THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240291
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 91 lines
The nation's men and women in uniform got a raise Monday.
In an election-year nod to the popularity of military programs, President Clinton signed a $256.6 billion defense spending bill that provides a 3 percent pay increase for military personnel, even though it allows $11.2 billion more for national defense than Clinton requested.
Despite his objections to the extra spending - most of it to buy weapons and research new ones - the president long ago said that he would sign the bill because it authorizes a pay raise nearly a full percentage point higher than existing law allows.
The bill also provides additional financial security for thousands of shipbuilders in Hampton Roads, authorizing the Navy to begin preliminary work next year on a new attack submarine that will be built at Newport News Shipbuilding beginning in 1999.
The sub is to be the second in a series that will be divided between Newport News and its lone sub-building competitor, Electric Boat of Groton, Conn. The Connecticut firm is getting the first and third subs in the line, with the second and fourth boats assigned to Newport News.
Under a deal brokered by congressional delegations from Virginia and several New England states, the two yards are to compete for contracts after the fourth sub, beginning around 2002.
The bill authorizes $707 million in spending during 1997 for a nuclear reactor and other preliminary work Newport News will need to begin work on schedule in 1999.
Clinton's main motive for signing the legislation was to provide the 3 percent pay increase for military personnel and the 4.6 percent increase in the allowance for off-base living quarters. The pay raise is effective Jan. 1.
``Our service men and women go the extra mile for us. And we, in turn, should do the same for them,'' Clinton said.
The pay increase treats all service members equally in percentage terms. But because military pay is based on rank and longevity, more dollars will go to those who've been in uniform longest and have advanced farthest.
A Navy captain with 20 years' experience, for example, will see his or hergross monthly check increase by about $160, to $5,319; while a captain with 24 years in the Navy will get a $175 increase, to $5,817.
Similarly, a 2nd class petty officer with 10 years in uniform will get a $48 per month increase, to 1,640, but one with four more years' experience will collect an extra $50, for a total of $1,731 per month.
The bill authorizes a $1.3 billion increase over this year's military budget.
The $11.2 billion approved in excess of Clinton's request includes $3.4 billion for four Aegis radar-equipped destroyers, $2.2 billion for production models of an enhanced Navy FA-18 fighter and $2 billion to continue developing the Air Force F-22 air superiority fighter.
``This bill makes good on our pledge to keep our armed forces the best trained, best equipped fighting force on earth,'' Clinton said, adding: ``It gives us the technological edge to prevail on the battlefields of tomorrow.''
Though the bill signed Monday is referred to informally as the defense budget, it contains no funds. Those are provided in a separate appropriations bill that still is being negotiated by the administration and congressional Republicans.
The White House is pressing for changes in that bill to shift several billion dollars from a variety of new weapons systems backed by the GOP to social and educational programs dear to Clinton. The two sides are expected to agree on some cuts, effectively leaving the military with permission to acquire the weapons involved but no money to make the purchases.
Funds for the new attack submarine program apparently are not part of the negotiations, however. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by staff writer Dale Eisman,
The Associated Press and The New York Times.This story was compiled from
reports by staff writer Dale Eisman, The Associated Press and The New
York Times. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL HIGHLIGHTS
PAY RAISES
Military personnel will receive a 3 percent pay raise, effective
Jan. 1, as well as a 4.6 percent increase in the allowance for
off-base living quarters.
Examples: Navy captains with 20 years' experience will see his gross
monthly check increase by about $160, to $5,319; petty officers 2nd
class with 10 years' experience will get a $48-per-month increase,
to $1,640.
AIRCRAFT
Congress added $2.2 billion for production models of an enhanced
Navy FA-18 fighter, left, and $2 billion for work on the Air Force
F-22 air superiority fighter.
SUBS, SHIPS
The Navy can start work next year on a new attack submarine to be
built in Newport News, plus $3.4 billion for four Aegis
radar-equipped destroyers. by CNB