Senate-House Panel OKs Bill to Cover Past Deployments

Senate-House negotiators approved a compromise bill Wednesday that would give the Defense Department extra money to help pay for U.S. military operations abroad but would force the Pentagon to make up most of the increase by cutting other defense programs.

After weeks of delay, the conference committee voted to provide $3.1 billion to cover unexpected costs of operations in Haiti and other trouble spots, about $500 million more than the Pentagon had requested early this year.

However, to prevent any increase in the fiscal 1995 federal budget deficit, the panel ordered $2.26 billion worth of cuts in other defense programs and $450 million cut from related expenditures, including military construction, Coast Guard operations and some foreign aid.

The vote Wednesday paves the way for approval by the full House and Senate by the end of this week, the deadline the Pentagon had set as the longest the services could wait without making drastic cuts in training, maintenance and weapon purchases.

However, Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike warned that this would be the last time they would agree to finance military operations retroactively.

The conference panel jettisoned a House-approved formula that would have offset half the $3.1 billion in spending by cutting domestic programs rather than other military items. The Senate bill would have taken all the money out of the Pentagon budget.

The domestic cutbacks in the House-passed version would have included money for NASA wind tunnels, Labor Department youth training and school repairs and renovation.

Authority to reshuffle money in the defense budget was needed because under current rules the Pentagon may not use funds voted for other defense programs to finance military contingencies. Instead, it must take the money from training and maintenance.

As a result, the operations-and-maintenance part of the defense budget essentially has been drained and the service chiefs had warned that they would have to cut back on flying and sailing hours and maintenance if the extra money had not been approved soon.

The decision to authorize $3.1 billion in extra spending for military operations, rather than the $2.6 billion that the Pentagon had requested, reflects an attempt by congressional Republicans to outdo President Clinton’s efforts to bolster military preparedness.

Clinton proposed adding about $25 billion to the defense budget over the next six years after the shortfall in operating money left some military units unable to meet the highest levels of readiness. The $2.6 billion was the first installment of that amount.

The Pentagon’s reaction to the compromise was mixed. A Defense Department spokesman said that the reshuffling “will certainly . . . allay the immediate crisis” but warned that the bill will still leave the military $600 million short of what it needs by the end of the year.

“Frankly, we’re disappointed,” the spokesman said.

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Besides Haiti, the money would help cover the cost of sending troops to Somalia and Rwanda last year, rescuing and interning Haitian and Cuban refugees, and gearing up for possible action in South Korea and Kuwait.

Officials said that the Pentagon was not able to include the money for these operations in the budget it submitted a year ago because it was unable to predict that they would be necessary. At the same time, Clinton did not seek Congress’ advance approval for any of the operations.