DATE: Wednesday, October 8, 1997            TAG: 9710080482

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   45 lines

CLINTON DIDN'T ASK PENTAGON'S ADVICE ON CUTS

President Clinton did not seek advice from either uniformed or civilian leaders in the Pentagon before deciding last week to veto 38 military construction projects, including $27 million worth in Hampton Roads, a Defense Department spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

Navy Capt. Mike Doubleday told reporters that the Defense Department ``provided technical information'' about the projects to the White House. The data included details about which projects could proceed in 1998 if funds were provided and which ones would have to wait for design and engineering work to be completed.

But Doubleday said the administration, which announced $287 million in vetoes Monday, did not ask for recommendations on the projects.

The Pentagon supports Clinton's decisions, the spokesman added, though military leaders believe many of the axed projects ultimately will have to be constructed.

None of the vetoed projects was part of Clinton's defense spending plan for 1998, but 31 of the 38 are included in a ``future years defense program'' the Pentagon issues annually as a long-range blueprint for future spending.

Testifying in support of Clinton's budget last spring, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen told lawmakers that it would provide adequately for the military. But when Republican legislators made clear their determination to spend more than the president recommended, Cohen urged them to give priority to projects in the future years program.

Locally, the vetoed projects include a $19.9 million pier refurbishment at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and a $4 million air operations building at Norfolk Naval Air Station. Clinton also axed a $3.3 million magazine for Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station.

Though Clinton cast his vetoes as a strike against wasteful spending, critics suggest that projects which are part of the Pentagon's long-term plans almost certainly will be built later, when they most likely will cost even more.

The vetoes were Clinton's most aggressive use yet of the ``line-item'' veto authority Congress approved for him last year. Some members of Congress say they will attempt to overturn at least some of the vetoes and Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., Tuesday introduced legislation to accomplish that. KEYWORDS: DEFENSE BUDGET

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