Construction Spending Approved

The House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday approved a $9.2 billion spending bill.

But while the measure is nearly $800 million above President Clinton's FY98 budget request, Subcommittee Chairman Ron Packard, R-Calif., lamented it is $610.3 million less than in FY97, LEGI-SLATE News Service reported.

"Essentially we are taking cutbacks, and that hurts," Packard said at a markup session that lasted less than 15 minutes.

Subcommittee ranking member Bill Hefner, D-N.C., agreed. "It seems we remain stagnant in what we need to do to preserve quality of life" for the armed services, he said.

The measure, which tracks closely with military construction language approved last week in the House National Security Committee's FY98 defense authorization, goes to the full Appropriations Committee Tuesday.

"We did not fund anything that was not authorized," Packard said.

About $4 billion of the bill is for family housing, about $300 million over the administration's request. Other provisions include $857 million for environmental cleanups at closed or realigned bases, $104 million for environmental compliance, $25 million for energy conservation programs and $92 million for chemical weapons demilitarization.