NATION : Nunn Cautious on Arms Cuts

WASHINGTON — Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) proposed defense spending today above what House Democrats want but still far below what the Pentagon has proposed, saving money by cutting and slowing major programs and scaling down the Cold War pace of military activities.

The influential Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, in a speech setting the stage for the debate on how to reap a federal budget “peace dividend” from reduced superpower tensions, suggested stalling the rail-mounted MX missile, slowing a key submarine and submarine missile program and freezing spending for “Star Wars” nuclear defense research. And he signaled that the five planes now proposed for the B-2 Stealth bomber program are likely to be cut back to two or three.