Uses Aircraft Carrier as Stage for Message : Bush Sternly Warns About Defense Fraud and Abuse

President Bush, using an aircraft carrier as a stage for a stern message about defense fraud and abuse, warned military contractors Tuesday that, unless they are prepared to deliver top quality work, “you are not ready to do business with the United States government.”

In his first visit to the nation’s military forces since becoming President, Bush, a World War II naval aviator who was shot down over the South Pacific, saluted the 5,000 sailors of the 24-year-old conventionally powered carrier America and those of other warships at the Norfolk Naval Base, the nation’s largest Navy installation.

Backs Strong Defense

He declared his determination to broaden “the national consensus” for a strong defense, saying that an important first step is “to wring the last drop of waste and mismanagement out of the way we buy our weapons. And that’s what we intend to do.”

Bush has spent the opening days of his presidency touching base with Washington’s centers of power, focusing first on Congress and senior executive branch employees.

With two FA-18s, an F-14 and an A-6 aircraft arrayed on deck, and defense plant workers in hard hats clustered amid the white-capped sailors, Bush declared his determination to root out fraud and abuse in the military supply line.

His admonition to procurement officers and contractors was “just this simple,” he said: “Don’t think it’s just anyone out there. Think it’s your son or daughter--and remember that their lives depend on the things you make.

“And, if you’re not ready to care that much and work that hard, you are not ready to do business with the United States government.

Seeks Higher Standards

“We want tighter controls and higher standards in weapons procurement, and we will get tighter controls and higher standards in weapons procurement,” he said. “You are getting them most of the time now, and we’re determined that you will get them all of the time.”

His visit with the military, on his first presidential trip beyond the capital, completed a series of speeches in which he has tried to set a high tone for his Administration and stress the need for lofty standards in all aspects of government work.

As the new President prepares to enter a tough battle over the federal budget, including likely Pentagon program cutbacks, Bush’s aides saw value in his appearance in the role of armed forces chief.

“It reminds people he is more than the President--he is commander in chief,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It bolsters his stature with the public to see him acting as commander in chief.”

Speaks in a Croak

The President, still suffering from the effects of a cold he developed last week, struggled with hoarseness as he spoke from the America’s flight deck. He said later that he had been “just croaking away” and told reporters: “I feel OK, but I wasn’t sure if I could get through that brief address.”

He was checked before the trip by his doctor, Lawrence Mohr.

Just as the apparent ethical lapses among some senior members of the Ronald Reagan Administration provided a reference point for Bush’s remarks last week on ethics in government, the Pentagon procurement scandal provided the underpinning for the President’s message on defense.

The America, in port for routine upkeep, was one of the launching bases for the combined Navy and Air Force attack on the Libyan cities of Benghazi and Tripoli in 1986. It was chosen as the site for Bush’s message, a senior White House official said, because “it’s a lot better than shaking hands with bureaucrats in the Pentagon.”

After the speech, the President joined a chow line of enlisted men for a lunch of egg drop soup, Cantonese meat sticks, pork-fried rice, a roll, shrimp and strawberry shortcake.