WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND ON / Defense

Background: By the time Ronald Reagan left office, the United States was spending $303.6 billion on defense--5.79% of the gross domestic product. In 1992, the budget was $295.2 billion, or 5.08% of the gross domestic product. Although there is general agreement that defense spending can decline further, the amount of cuts is hotly debated. One concern is the impact of job losses in states with many defense contractors, especially California.

President Bush has proposed a fiscal year 1993 defense budget of $272.8 billion, nearly 8% less than 1992. Within five years, he plans to cut the budget 30% from 1989 levels, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Among the programs he plans to trim are the B-2 Stealth bomber, the advanced cruise missile and the Seawolf submarine. But he would increase funding for the “Star Wars” anti-missile defense system, expecting to spend nearly $40 billion on it in the next five years. He would reduce military personnel by 500,000 between 1990 and 1997. In Phoenix on Thursday, Bush proposed beefing up plans to retrain military workers by adding $1 billion to a $7.1-billion five-year job-training proposal.

Patrick J. Buchanan supports a strong defense but wants to make our allies pick up the bill for their own defense. He supports “Star Wars” and says the United States must remain “first militarily.” He has made no estimate of costs or budgets.

Bill Clinton proposes slightly deeper defense cuts than Bush. He wants to trim the budget by 30% over five years and cut U.S. troops in Europe to 100,000, from more than 300,000 in June, 1991. He would cancel the B-2 bomber and “Star Wars,” but would retain the Seawolf submarine, at least for now. He advocates reinvesting cuts in the defense budget into the civilian economy, dollar for dollar.

Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. proposes a much deeper cut in defense--50% over the next five years. He would remove all troops from Europe, but has not been specific about other economies. He says the country could create millions of jobs by spending the equivalent of the defense budget on health, education, housing, high-speed trains, fuel-efficient cars and weatherizing buildings. Brown also supports the equivalent of a Civilian Conservation Corps, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s program that put people to work during the Great Depression.