Cuts in Corps of Engineers Put on Hold
The Clinton Administration has delayed a proposed overhaul of the Army Corps of Engineers, House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said Friday.
Gephardt said he had received a letter from President Clinton saying that the overhaul of the Corps “is on hold” until Defense Secretary Les Aspin completes his review of the reorganization plan. The Corps had intended to start implementing parts of the plan this month.
The reorganization, which was unveiled last November, would have cut more than 2,600 jobs nationwide by 1995.
Clinton said Aspin “will be reviewing the Army’s proposal in the months ahead to ensure that the Corps of Engineers is organized to help us meet the military and economic national security imperatives of the future.”
Gephardt said the delay “will give the Administration and Congress time needed to consider this issue carefully and make changes in a fair and sensible manner.”
Col. Miguel E. Monteverde, chief of public affairs for the Corps, said the Defense Department had suspended reorganization proposals within the military, including the Corps’ plan, until Aspin could be briefed on them.
The Corps proposed the reorganization as a way to save $115 million a year.
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