ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Senate sent a $265 billion defense bill to President Clinton on Tuesday with a warning that a veto would deprive U.S. troops in snowbound Bosnia of a modest pay raise.
In a 51-43 vote, with Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., both voting yes, the Senate passed the fiscal 1996 defense authorization bill, a measure that adds $7 billion to Clinton's requested defense budget and imposes restrictions on his powers to deploy troops overseas.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said it is a ``virtual certainty'' that Clinton will veto it.
Democrats seized on a provision that would require deployment of a missile defense system by 2003 as a possible violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Republicans countered that Democrats wanted to defeat the measure to spare Clinton from vetoing it.
``The president faces a real dilemma on this,'' said Sen. William Cohen, R-Maine. ``If the president vetoes this conference report, he's going to be perceived by many soldiers and their families as withholding support for them just as he dispatched them on a very dangerous mission.''
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB