THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Republicans in Congress have responded to the veto of a defense bill with a compromise version that has improved, though not perfected, the legislation.
The vetoed version tried to impose congressional constraints on the commander in chief that a Republican president would have found equally onerous. It included aggressive spending on an untried and oversold missile-defense system whose deployment could force the United States to breach a treaty.
Lacking sufficient votes to override Clinton's veto, Republicans were obliged to remove the disputed provisions. The scaled-back bill should easily become law, according to Sen. John Warner. That's a mixed blessing.
The legislation contains increases in pay and housing allowances that are fully justified. The call for a 25 percent reduction in the staff of the secretary of defense is not unreasonable at a time of continuing budget deficits and government streamlining.
But the parsimony doesn't extend nearly far enough. The bill still contains spending the Pentagon didn't request and the budget won't support, most notably a half-billion dollars for B-2 bombers that are hideously expensive and of dubious utility in a post-Cold War world. The bill also calls for construction of several ships not sought at this time by the military. Several would be built in the home districts of prominent Republicans. In other words, pork lives.
In a different category is the project of greatest interest to Hampton Roads. A new generation of attack submarines will be built. There's been a duel in Congress to decide whether Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., will get preferential treatment. The alternative is to allow Newport News Shipbuilding to share in construction of the first several submarines in order to compete for future business. It now seems certain Newport News will be a player, largely due to the efforts of Virginia members of Congress.
It seems certain that the future holds more competition for defense contractors and cost cutting for the Pentagon, less pork and extravagance. Both parties are committed to deficit reduction, and defense won't be immune. In fact, defense spending is held essentially flat for the next seven years by both Clinton and Republican budgets.
Republicans who style themselves cheap hawks are in charge. So much so that Clinton's plan would actually spend more on defense in 2002 - $281 billion - than the Republicans - $271 billion. And even these numbers may not survive the drive to balance the budget. House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich has said, ``I have been promised by Newt that we will revisit the Pentagon budget. I believe there are enormous savings in that building.''
Of course, most savings won't come from the Pentagon but from cuts in places like Hampton Roads (with 100,000 military jobs), from shipbuilding in Newport News, from bases in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. If deeper budget cuts are required, the only programs currently off the table are Social Security and defense. It's not hard to figure out which will be the first to feel the knife. In recent polling, 67 percent favored less defense spending.
If more downsizing is ahead, there's no guarantee Hampton Roads will be spared. Vigorous efforts to diversify the local economy and prepare for such a contingency while working to avoid it are simple prudence. by CNB