House votes to end production of B-2 bomber, heading off veto
     Washington (September 25, 1997 2:27 p.m. -- The House approved
 a $247.5 billion defense appropriations bill Thursday that would
 effectively kill future production of the B-2 bomber and give
 President Clinton a way to extend the Bosnia troop deployment.
     Heading off a veto battle, House and Senate negotiators who
 crafted the bill gave way on Bosnia and the B-2, two of the most
 contentious issues. And with new spending limits imposed by the
 budget-balancing effort, the defense spending increases added to
 the bill by the Republican-controlled Congress are more modest
 than planned.
     The bill, passed 356-65, requires a Senate vote before going
 to Clinton.
     It still contains language cutting off funding for the Bosnia
 troop deployment by next June 30 and allowing the president to spend
 money expanding the B-2 bomber fleet. But companion provisions give
 Clinton an escape hatch on both issues.
     Clinton can decide to spend the B-2 money repairing and modern-
 izing the existing fleet of 21 B-2s - as he undoubtedly would given
 his firm opposition to buying any more of the $2 billion radar-
 evading planes.
     On Bosnia, Clinton could remove the funding cutoff merely by
 coming to Capitol Hill by next May 15 and explaining why and how the
 Bosnia mission must be extended.
    "We feel now that the Bosnia language fulfills our minimum commit-
 ment, so at least on Bosnia we no longer have a veto threat from
 senior presidential advisers," said Lawrence Haas, a spokesman for
 Clinton's Office of Management and Budget. Haas said administration
 officials are still examining other provisions of the bill.
     The final version of the bill represents a major concession by
 the House. Earlier this year, the House voted to impose a strict
 funding cutoff that would prohibit Clinton from spending money on
 the troop deployment beyond June 30, 1998 -- the date he had given
 for ending the peacekeeping mission. On the B-2 bomber, the House
 wanted to spend $331 million as a down payment on nine more B-2
 bombers, with a total price in the coming years of billions of
 dollars.
     Senators agreed with the administration in opposing more B-2s.
 And on Bosnia, the final version of the bill reflects the Senate
 view that while a longer deployment to Bosnia may prove necessary,
 Clinton must come to Congress and clearly explain his reasons
 before the deployment can be extended.
     "I could understand a situation where it would be difficult for
 us to be out by July 1, 1998," said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska,
 chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "But we'd have to
 have a plan and we'd have to understand what we were going to do
 there."
     The bill would add $3.6 billion to Clinton's request for defense
 spending in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. It represents a $5.1
 billion increase over this year's defense spending level. It also
 includes a 2.8 percent military pay raise.
     While Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House
 Appropriations national security committee, called the bill a
 "strong statement" for defense despite budget limits, liberals
 such as Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and John Conyers, D-Mich.,
 opposed the measure.
     "Ladies and gentlemen, it's too much dough," Conyers said.
 "We've got to cut it down."
 In other key provisions, the bill would:
 --Add $720 million for a fourth DDG-51 destroyer, to be built in
 Pascagoula, Miss., hometown of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
 --Fully fund the Air Force F-22 fighter program at $2.2 billion and
 add $529 million not requested by Clinton for nine C-130J transports.
 Both aircraft types are built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Marietta,
 Ga., hometown of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
 --Cut the advanced procurement funding for a new aircraft carrier
 from $345 million requested by the Senate to $50 million. Lawmakers
 apparently did not trust the savings promised by the ship's manu-
 facturer, Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va.
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