THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210405
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Republicans were penitent and Democrats savored a rare - for this Congress - victory on Wednesday as the House National Security Committee formally buried a GOP proposal to reduce the future retirement benefits of more than 600,000 military personnel.
A 50-0 vote reversed action the committee's Republican majority took last month to trim some $650 million from the federal deficit by adjusting the formula used to compute some military pension benefits.
The ``High 1'' plan, as it came to be known, would have affected service members who enlisted before 1980. For some, it could have met a 5 percent to 10 percent cut in their monthly pension checks.
Democrats condemned the plan as a ``breach of faith'' with service members who enlisted expecting their pensions would be protected. It also had been roundly criticized by top military leaders, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and organizations of service members and retirees.
The issue let Democrats cast themselves as the party most in tune with service members and most determined to protect their benefits. Republicans routinely seek office on a strong pro-defense platform, particularly in the South; several Democrats suggested Wednesday that the High 1 controversy gives their party a powerful weapon to counter such tactics.
To achieve the same deficit reduction High 1 was supposed to provide, the committee agreed to recommend a sale of minerals and rubber stockpiled by the Defense Department. The Pentagon has an estimated $6.5 billion worth of such materials on hand in case they're needed to produce war material.
More than 80 percent of the $650 million to be raised in the asset sale is expected to come from the sale of up to 42.5 million pounds of cobalt. Committee staffers said market conditions are perfect for a sale, with prices at 10-year highs.
Committee chairman Floyd Spence, a South Carolina Republican who last week accused Democrats of ``political posturing'' on the High 1 issue, sounded a conciliatory note Wednesday with committee Democrats.
``To the extent I have a political `bone to pick,' it is with none of my colleagues in this room,'' he said, ``and I apologize for any impression to the contrary.''
As other Democratic members suppressed smiles, Rep. Ronald V. Dellums of California thanked Spence for the apology but asserted that Democrats deserve credit for High 1's demise.
The plan originated with Republicans, Dellums said, who shoved aside Democratic suggestions that the committee delay any action and search for some other way to trim the deficit. Then last week, when the asset sale alternative was announced, GOP staffers issued a news release claiming that Republicans ``persevered and ultimately succeeded'' in heading off High 1.
``Let the record show that if that is the case (the Republicans) have persevered and ultimately succeeded in undoing their own work,'' Dellums said. by CNB