House Backs Aid to Laid-Off Troops : Military: The $1-billion plan includes help for defense contractors. A one-year moratorium on U.S. testing of nuclear weapons is also approved.

The House approved a $1-billion “defense conversion” program Thursday designed to help ease the impact of Pentagon spending cuts on the economy by providing aid to defense contractors, local governments and laid-off military personnel and defense workers.

The plan, endorsed by the Democratic leadership, was touted as a counter to a similar plan proposed by President Bush that is only one-fifth the size. Approval was by a vote of 275 to 105 as lawmakers from both parties, worried about job losses, rushed to support the measure.

The action came as the House, continuing work on the fiscal 1993 defense authorization bill, also approved an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on testing of nuclear weapons by the United States--a move long sought by liberals but rejected by previous congresses.

Proponents argued that the moratorium is needed if the United States is to persuade other countries to adhere to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, as Bush has advocated. The vote was 237 to 167.

The combination of measures appeared likely to intensify the Administration’s displeasure with the defense bill, which would cut the President’s military budget by $7 billion and force the Pentagon to make sharper cuts in the number of U.S. troops stationed overseas.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told reporters Thursday that he already was planning to recommend that Bush veto the bill because of the extra spending cuts and other requirements, specifically faster troop withdrawals and increased burden-sharing by U.S. allies.

“What the House did raises the possibility, by forcing us to go to lower (troop) levels quicker, that the ones who pay a real penalty for that would be our men and women in uniform, and we won’t accept that,” Cheney said.

The defense measure being crafted by the House would budget $274.2 billion for defense, compared to $281 billion being sought by the President. The Senate is expected to approve legislation providing for $277 billion or more.

The bill is expected to be passed today after lawmakers vote on amendments designed to restore funds for the Administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as “Star Wars,” and for the B-2 bomber.

The Armed Services Committee made some cuts in both of those programs and in other controversial projects, such as the production of the proposed C-17 cargo plane. Conservatives contend that the cutbacks would weaken U.S. defenses.

The defense conversion plan, crafted largely by the Armed Services panel, would increase aid for job-training programs and provide $5,000-a-year stipends to help ex-military personnel and laid-off defense workers win certification as elementary and high school teachers.

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

Senate Democratic leaders already have unveiled a similar plan, which is expected to be included in the Senate version of the bill. The Administration, which earlier had opposed such schemes, now supports the principle but believes that the Democratic plan is too expensive.

The rush to push through an economic conversion package has been a major goal of members of both parties since early this year, when lawmakers began to have second thoughts about enacting deep defense cuts, fearing that they would exacerbate the unemployment problem.

However, there still is no consensus on how effective such programs are. Some economists contend that, despite the large cost, they are only of marginal help in making the transition to a peacetime economy.

Despite Cheney’s warnings Thursday, it is not certain yet that President Bush will veto the bill. The Senate is expected to dilute many of the provisions to which the Administration objects, including the requirements for faster troop withdrawals.

A bipartisan group of liberal senators led by Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) served notice Thursday that it plans to offer an amendment to the Senate version of the bill to impose a similar moratorium on nuclear testing.

However, Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) conceded that the coalition is not certain that it will be able to muster the majority needed to pass the measure. The Bush Administration is opposed to any halt in nuclear-weapons testing.