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- NATION, Page 25American NotesDEFENSEIs the B-2 Bombing?
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- The power of the purse is Congress's most effective weapon,
- and the House last week wielded it like a double-bladed sword.
- Although the House approved George Bush's request for $291
- billion in total military spending next year, its version of the
- 1992 defense-spending bill axed the President's pet B-2 Stealth
- bomber program and drastically cut funding for his Strategic
- Defense Initiative antiballistic-missile project.
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- The Administration had requested four new B-2s as part of
- its goal of acquiring 75 of the bombers by the end of the
- century; the House action would halt production at the 15
- aircraft previously authorized. In cutting Star Wars spending
- to $3.5 billion from the Administration's requested $5.2
- billion, the House freed money for more conventional weapons.
- The measure also authorized servicewomen to have abortions in
- military clinics, at their own expense, and cleared female
- pilots to fly combat missions at the discretion of their
- services. All these issues are likely to be decided differently
- when the Senate produces its bill, but Bush and Defense
- Secretary Dick Cheney have both warned of a presidential veto
- if the House version prevails.
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