
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990                   TAG: 9007130697
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PANEL AGREES TO CUT SPENDING ON DEFENSE

The Senate Armed Services Committee early today approved a $289 billion defense bill that cuts troop strength in Europe by 50,000 and reduces the budget request for the Strategic Defense Initiative by nearly $1 billion, congressional sources said.

In a session that began early Thursday and ended shortly after 1 a.m. today, the panel agreed to an overall budget that is $18 billion less than President Bush proposed in January.

The committee, as expected, agreed to the total its chairman, Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., had called for in military spending.

But in a surprise move, the panel adopted a measure that reduces the armed forces in Europe, an issue left unresolved by U.S. and Soviet negotiators after stalled talks on cutting conventional forces.

All told, the panel agreed to a 100,000-person reduction in military personnel.

- Associated Press

by CNB