Clinton Trims DoD Appropriation

President Clinton today used his line item veto power for the third time, canceling 13 projects totaling $144 million that were part of the Defense appropriations bill approved by Congress.

All of the vetoed items had been added to the bill by Congress and were either not part of the administration's Future Years Defense Program or were determined by the Defense Department to be unnecessary, according to a statement released by the White House. Two measures were axed at least in part because of their effect on "longstanding U.S. national security policy," the statement indicated.

At a news conference today in Brazil, President Clinton termed his use of the veto on the Defense bill "responsible and quite restrained." Clinton bowed to reports of congressional concern that he may have been too avid in his use of the new power, saying, "I know that a lot of members who voted for the line item veto now wonder whether they did the right thing now that I'm exercising it."

However, Clinton argued that he has "deferred in great measure to Congress," which he said added a total of 750 of its own projects to the Defense appropriation - reducing procurement and research and development funding to pay for them.

Clinton added that he hoped not to have to use the authority quite so often in future years as the budget process is altered by the expectation of potential presidential vetoes. In a statement, Clinton vowed to continue using the line item veto "when warranted."

California, where four projects were canceled, took the worst hit as a result of today's action. New Mexico lost two projects, as space-based defense programs were singled out for particularly big cuts. The most expensive item of any on the president's list is a $37.5 million "Project ASAT" technology demonstration experiment that was to be conducted in California. The program would seek to prove the feasibility of a system for destroying enemy satellites.

Another space-based missile defense program known as "Clementine" lost $30 million. That program, located in New Mexico, involved microelectronics to be used for tracking asteroids. Apparently spared was a controversial provision added by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, to grant a monopoy to American Classic Voyages in return for the company agreeing to buy two American-built cruise ships.