A House-Senate conference committee Tuesday approved a $9.2 billion Military Construction spending bill for FY98. The funding is $800 million more than President Clinton requested, but still $610 million below current spending.
House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ron Packard, R-Calif., said about half of the increase goes towards additional spending on barracks and family housing units, about $4.6 billion.
Criticism came from Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who complained about funding for environmental cleanup of closed military bases, saying the program is soaking up money that could be used to further improve the military's quality of life. The bill calls for spending $857 million on such cleanup efforts.
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