Senators Pass Defense Bill With a Message for Allies : Ask Them to Share Payments

The Senate voted the 90-4 passage today of its second Pentagon budget bill, one that includes an election-year message to Japan and Western Europe to pay more for allied defense and that sets new restrictions on defense consultants.

President Reagan last week vetoed the Democratic-controlled Congress’ first defense bill because he objected to its cuts in his proposed “Star Wars” budget and restrictions on nuclear arms control policy.

The $282-billion defense budget bill was the last major item keeping the Senate from starting a nearly four-week recess.

Negotiators to Meet

When Congress returns after Labor Day, House and Senate negotiators will meet to iron out differences between the defense bills passed separately by each chamber. The House version approved two months ago contains neither of the major provisions voted today.

One difference will be the allied “burden-sharing” measure endorsed on a voice vote by the Senate as part of the defense spending bill.

The Senate provision orders a major review of U.S. overseas commitments, a limit on American troop deployments to Japan and South Korea, and a ceiling on spending for U.S. military personnel stationed overseas. The last provision requires the allies to pay the difference if deployment costs of U.S. troops rise above 1988 levels.

Provision Rejected

The Senate rejected, 59 to 36, another provision calling for a 10% cut in the total of American dependents living overseas with servicemen.

Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) opposed the dependents’ ceiling because “I can’t think of anything more damaging to the morale of our troops than to limit dependents.”

But Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) said, “Enough is enough. We have 413,000 dependents worldwide. That is far more than any other nation in history.”

Later, the Senate gave voice-vote approval to an amendment by Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.) providing strict new reporting requirements for private consultants to the Pentagon and defense contractors.

Pryor’s plan was prompted by the Pentagon bribery investigation, which involves allegations that consultants were involved in obtaining inside information from Defense Department employees about details of planned contracts. No charges have been filed.

The amendment requires consultants to register, much as lobbyists for foreign nations must now do, and detail all their clients and contracts.

The measure considered by the Senate was an appropriation bill that would pay for programs spelled out by separate authorization legislation in the two-step congressional budget process.