DATE: Tuesday, June 24, 1997                TAG: 9706240296

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   82 lines

HOUSE VOTES TO SEAL LOOPHOLE USED BY CLINTON IN BASE CLOSURES

The House of Representatives on Monday delivered what could be a death blow to Pentagon plans for a new round of military base closures in 1999, effectively declaring that it does not trust President Clinton to keep politics out of the closings process.

In a 278-145 vote, the lawmakers advanced a bill to close a legal loophole Clinton used in 1995 to save two Air Force maintenance centers targeted for elimination by an independent base-closing commission.

Through aides, Clinton has threatened to veto the entire $268 billion military spending program for 1998 if it includes provisions that essentially would force the closure of maintenance depots at Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, and McClellan Air Force base near Sacramento, Calif.

But Monday night's House vote, and apparent support in the Senate for similar legislation, suggest that unless Clinton is willing to compromise on Kelly and McClellan, Congress will not permit further base closures.

Clinton's move to preserve the bases was ``an intrusion against the process that, if we allow it to stand, might put in jeopardy any future base closures,'' warned House Republican Leader Richard Armey of Texas.

Even if the impasse on Kelly and McClellan can be broken, the prospects for a 1999 base closing round, as Clinton and Defense Secretary William S. Cohen have proposed, are guarded at best. Opponents say the Pentagon should complete shutting the 97 bases ordered closed in earlier rounds before considering other closures.

Clinton and Cohen, along with senior uniformed leaders, say more base closings are vital if the services are to buy needed new ships, planes and other equipment. The closings are designed to free up funds that can then be redirected to new weapons.

Clinton interceded to save the Kelly and McClellan depots in 1995, after an independent base closing commission concluded that their work should be divided among Air Force facilities in Georgia, Oklahoma and Utah. With the military shrinking in the aftermath of the Cold War, there was no longer enough work for five maintenance centers, the bipartisan panel said.

Though the commission's orders were supposed to be final, Clinton got around them by moving to turn the Kelly and McClellan operations over to private companies, effectively shifting government workers to the private sector. His move was widely seen as an appeal for votes in Texas and California.

The Navy shut several aircraft maintenance depots, including one in Norfolk, during earlier base closing rounds. Clinton made no effort to privatize those facilities.

The remaining aircraft depots and other government-operated maintenance facilities, such as Norfolk Naval Shipyard, are expected to get close scrutiny in any future closing exercises. Pentagon officials believe that private contractors could do more of the work and save the government money in the process; they want Congress to repeal legislation requiring that at least 60 percent of the work be done at government-owned facilities.

The Senate is expected to consider legislation next month calling for a 50-50 split of maintenance work between the depots and private contractors. The House vote Monday upheld the 60-40 rule.

The legislation backed by the House Monday would allow maintenance contracts to be awarded to private firms operating at Kelly and McClellan only if other Air Force depots are operating at or above 80 percent of their capacity.

Barring a war, that's virtually impossible, critics of the plan said. The 80 percent rule would deprive the Pentagon of a chance to force meaningful competition between the remaining public depots and the new private operators of Kelly and McClellan, they argued.

``Why is it OK to privatize the House beauty shop but no . . . depot work?'' asked Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif. The public-private competition the administration wants may ultimately save more money than shifting all the work to public facilities, Fazio said.

Earlier in the evening, the House agreed to a plan to make a $331 million down payment on nine additional B-2 bombers, enough to bring the nation's fleet to 30.

The vote, and a contentious debate preceding it, revolved around just over one-tenth of 1 percent of the $268 billion Pentagon spending plan for 1998. But it had far larger implications; building and flying the nine additional radar-evading bombers will cost an estimated $27 billion over the next 20 years.

Those are dollars the Pentagon's senior leaders say they need for other weapons, including fighter jets, tanks and missiles, plus an aircraft carrier and a new generation of attack subs that would be built at Newport News Shipbuilding. KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSURES

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