House passes trimmed $2848 Defence Bill

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 10

House passes trimmed $2848 Defence Bill

NZPA-Reuter Washington The House of Representatives yesterday passed a SUS2B4 billion ($437.3 billion) 1985 Defence Bill that trimmed the American military build-up more than President Ronald Reagan wanted and added big restrictions to encourage arms control. Before the 298 to 98 final vote, arms control advocates dealt Mr Reagan fresh defeats by persuading the House to reconsider the MX nuclear missile next April and by imposing a moratorium on deployment of sealaunched cruise missiles. The bill was passed after three weeks of bitter debate. The Senate has yet to pass its own version of defence spending, which

then must be reconciled with the House bill. “We’ve given away the MX; we’ve given away unilaterally our capacity to have a modern chemical warfare deterrent; our antisatellite capacity was shot down,” griped a Reagan ally, Henry Hyde. “You get the feeling some people are so enamoured with arms control that if the Russians walk away, we’il negotiate with ourselves,” Mr Hyde said. The House overruled Mr Reagan by cutting the 1985 purchase of MX missiles from 40 to 15. It also set a 15-year moratorium on production of chemical weapons and a one-year ban on testing anti-satellite weapons against objects in

space. In another defeat for Mr Reagan, it amended the bill to bar use of United States combat troops in Central America without Congressional approval, except in certain extreme cases. The House rejected 291 to 104 a move by liberal opposition Democrats to force N.A.T.O. to reconsider deployment of Pershing 2 and cruise missiles in Europe, but agreed to authorise a study of the possible “nuclear winter” aftereffects of nuclear war. The bill authorises ?U5208.1 billion ($320.4 billion) for military procurement, sets $68.3 billion in funding for personnel and §US9.3 billion for military construction.