House Votes to Cut U.S. Troops Abroad : Military: The 40% reduction is larger than what the Pentagon plans. Bill calls for governments to pay more for upkeep of American forces.

The House voted Wednesday to reduce the number of U.S. troops overseas even more than the Pentagon now plans and to step up pressure on foreign governments to pay more of the cost of maintaining American forces stationed on their territory.

Opening debate on the fiscal 1993 defense appropriations bill, the lawmakers voted to slash the number of U.S. troops stationed abroad by 40% and to cut American forces in Europe by 100,000 by 1995--in both cases somewhat more deeply than the Defense Department currently projects.

They also approved a proposal that would require President Bush to negotiate new formulas under which Europe and South Korea would pay 70% of the cost of maintaining American troops in their countries, much as Japan does now.

And they voted to reduce the Pentagon budget by $3.5 billion, with the understanding that the Defense Department should make up the difference either by speeding up troop withdrawals or by prodding other governments to bear more of the cost.

The changes were the first in what is expected to be a spate of amendments to the defense bill, ranging from moves by conservatives to restore money for the Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as “Star Wars,” to efforts by liberals to ban nuclear testing by the United States.

The broad legislation, crafted by the House Armed Services Committee, would make modest changes in President Bush’s military budget, cutting only about $7 billion from Bush’s target budget figure and leaving most of the major decisions until next year and fiscal 1995.

The lawmakers are expected to approve the measure late today.

Despite the plethora of possible amendments, Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters that he believes the measure will be approved essentially intact. The Senate is expected to take up similar legislation in July.

The action came as House Democratic leaders unveiled a proposal that would allocate $1 billion to help ease the impact of defense-spending cuts on the economy by offering aid to defense contractors, local governments and laid-off military personnel and defense workers.

The plan, crafted largely by Aspin’s panel, would provide increased aid for job-training programs and a $5,000-a-year stipend for former military personnel and laid-off defense workers to help them win certification as elementary and high school teachers.

It also would help finance the creation of new government-business consortiums to help develop critical new technology that could be applied both for military and civilian uses. And it would give laid-off personnel medical and retirement benefits and some hiring preferences.

The proposal is expected to be added to the defense spending bill with little opposition.

Meanwhile, the General Accounting Office declared Wednesday that the Pentagon is improperly withholding $790 million for production of the experimental V-22 Osprey transport plane, which Congress appropriated over the objections of the Defense Department.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the GAO, Congress’ watchdog agency, said that the Pentagon’s refusal to spend the money amounts to a budgetary rescission, for which the Administration must win approval from Congress.

It said that if the legislators do not approve the holdup within 45 days, then by law the Pentagon will have to begin spending the money.