European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cheney gives Congress mixed grades by Chuck v1nch Washington Bureau Washington a defense Secretary Dick Cheney testifying Friday on Capitol Hill gave Congress Good Marks for closing bases but poor Marks for using the defense budget for pork barrel politics. Cheney spoke before the Senate armed services committee concerning the $273 billion fiscal 1993 budget As Well As the administrations Long Range National Security plan to Advance . Strategic interests into the 21st Century. He praised the work of the congressional designed commission that is closing unneeded Domestic military bases and gave that initiative a b. But he handed out Only a c for congressional willingness to allow him to cancel what the Pentagon thinks Are unnecessary weapons programs such As the v-22 Osprey tilt Rotor aircraft them a Abrams tank and f-14 and f-16 fighter jets. Although Congress has Given him the authority to terminate a number of programs Cheney still cited legislators for having a a squabble bickered and horse traded on others and forcing him to buy weapons he says the services have no use for. A they Are All great systems but they Are All More than we need to support president Bush a National defense strategy Cheney said. Lawmakers fared even worse on reducing personnel strength in the National guard and Reserve components in tandem with cuts in the Active duty Force earning a a. A and that ones graded on a curve a Cheney quipped. The Battle Over trimming Reserve personnel has been festering for several months now with legislators turning stubborn about shutting Down armoires and deactivating units for a weekend warriors in their districts a especially in an election year. Last year Congress gave Cheney the new kind of threats face ., Nunn says by Chuck v1nch Washington Bureau Washington the cold War is Over but the United states must remain on guard to face potential Brush fires around the world sparked by the breakup of the soviet Empire sen. Sam Nunn d-ga., said Friday. A the traditional threats have changed radically but there Are still threats to our National Security a said Nunn chairman of the Senate armed services committee at a hearing on the Pentagon a fiscal 1993 budget request. Terrorism and drug trafficking in particular Are Ripe for expansion through the Purchase of technological know How and weaponry that May proliferate in the Wake of the soviet unions collapse Nunn said. The problem of unknown numbers of scientists with nuclear and chemical weapons experience possibly hiring out to Radical third world regimes is a new phenomenon of history Nunn said. A we have never before had to face Nunn thousands of scientists who know How to make nuclear and chemical bombs and Are unemployed or almost unemployed a he said. A we have to avoid a dangerous outbreak of proliferation in the years  one Way to do that he said is to Foster much closer scientific technological and military cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent states whose Core is made up of the four principal republics of the old soviet Union. Nunn also signalled that he is willing to Side with the Pentagon on holding the line on further defense cuts by making reductions to the a fast spending personnel accounts As a Way to provide Money for Domestic initiatives. The services will have released More than 1 million service members by 1996, Nunn said. A that is 1 million fewer jobs just in the department of defense a he said. In fiscal 1993, More than 300,000 service members will leave the largest single year of the planned draw Down he said. In addition More than 1 million civilian jobs in the defense Industry will disappear because of the draw Down. A so that is 2 million jobs lost in this country Over the next several years a he said. Nunn urged colleagues who May want to go further with defense cuts to a think about what a coming Down the Pike a Nunn said. A a it a ironic that the cold War Victory will cause the loss of 2 million jobs not because they failed but because they  Nunn is due to make a series of speeches this week to outline his vision for charting the military course the United states should take in the new strategically transformed world. Authority to Cut about 60,000 Reserve personnel but that was Only about half the size of the Cut he had sought in the fiscal 1992 defense budget. One unit in Mississippi has even undertaken an Active lobbying Campaign enlisting the Aid of rep. Sonny Montgomery d-miss., to help them. Montgomery chairman of the House veterans affairs committee is considered to be the Best Friend of the National guard and Reserve in Congress. Cheney said the refusal of Congress to allow deeper and faster reductions in the Reserve components Means maintaining forces for a kind of threat that no longer exists which uses up precious budget Dol Lars. Cheney saved his most biting remarks for the Way he said Congress has padded the budget with pork barrel projects even As some legislators complain that defense spending is too High. He cited a number of what he called a ridiculous expenditures that he intends to Send to Congress As part of a request to return the Money that was authorized or appropriated for them Back to the . Treasury. Cheney said those expenditures include a $129 million for non competitive Grants to universities and colleges for information a that we done to  a $12 million for four museums with defense related themes. A $61 million for stockpiled combat Field rations which he said the services already have in abundance. Sen. Sam Nunn d-ga., chairman of the committee reminded Cheney that he has been fighting that same Battle. Nunn harshly criticized some of his colleagues recently for the Home state pet projects that Many successfully tried to have inserted in the defense budget. Despite Cheney a generally downbeat assessment Nunn sparked a Ripple of laughter when he dryly noted that a those Are the highest Marks i think Congress has Ever  dividend eludes Europe for no Germany others Hope future will bring savings Berlin apr Germany no longer threatened by the cold War is saying goodbye to nearly two thirds of the troops based on its soil and cutting Back on arms purchases. So whereas the peace dividend there san expensive Side of peace it turns out and the tax Man is digging deeper into German pockets to pay the Bills. Germany a not alone in seeking the elusive peace dividend. France and Britain also done to expect to save any Money despite proposed military manpower cuts since they plan costly modernization of their forces. Chancellor Helmut Kohls government says peace and disarmament eventually will free up Money but for the time being its already stretched assets Are committed to National integration. Germany also is heavily obligated to Aid the former soviet Union and East european countries hoping to prevent chaos in those nearby Larfis. A we Haven to gained Money but we have gained a Chance to invest in strategies to develop democracy in Eastern Europe a said Wolfgang Biermann Security adviser to the opposition social democratic party. A this will be the peace dividend in the Long  if a True dividend does emerge Biermann said it should be used to develop Eastern Germany faster and reduce the country a ballooning debts. A otherwise we could ruin the Western european  one dividend germans expect is a reduction in the noisy and often destructive Maneu vers by foreign troops in their crowded country. But germans living around foreign bases Are losing jobs and business As the soldiers Are shipped Back Home. That in turn places a further Burden on the German government which must pay unemployment benefits and redevelop the local economies. Before unification in 1990, the two Germany had 1.3 million troops on their soil including forces from the soviet Union the United states Britain France Canada the Netherlands and Belgium. The cold wars end brought a Radical shift. Reductions now under Way will leave about 525,000 German and foreign troops in the country by 1996. The 380,000 troops of the former soviet unions red army Are All to be withdrawn from former East Germany by 1994 a with the multimillion Dollar Cost being paid by Germany. A . Troops formerly 248,000, will number Only 105,000 by the mid-1990s. Many of East Germany a 98,000 soldiers were integrated into the former West German military which numbered 495,000 before unification. The unified German armed forces Are being Cut to 370,000 by 1994. The defense ministry said it will slash about 30 percent of planned military procurement through 2005, saving $28.7 billion Over 13 years. But the country is spending More than twice that annually to integrate Eastern Germany financing the Burden by going into unaccustomed debt and raising taxes. Defense ministry spokesman Walter Eichenmiller argues that the country is clearly saving Money on the military. The combined 1990 East and West German defense budgets were around $40 billion he said Well above the 1992 budget of $33.2 billion. A from this one can indeed speak of a peace dividend a he said. More would be saved Eichenmiller said if Germany did no to have to pay for environmental cleanups at abandoned bases. The government must also help pay for retooling natos units for the a Mobile concept a which is replacing the doctrine of depending against a future troop strengths troop strengths in Germany As of mid-1990 and planned reductions according to National military representatives in Germany 1990 future West Germany 495,000 East Germany 98,000 German total 593,000 370,000 1994 soviet Union 380,000 0 1994 United states 248,000 105,000 mid-1990s Britain 72,000 23,000 mid-1990s France 55,000 20,000 july 1992 Belgium 26,600 3,000 1996 Canada 8,000 1,200 1995 Netherlands 7,800 3,000 1996 total 1,340,000 525,200 Sis Warsaw pact attack. A the new strategy Means the armed forces need different equipment a he said. France and Britain while cutting their forces done to expect any immediate savings. They maintain costly nuclear arsenals and also plan to modernize their armies into rapid deployment forces As mandated by nato. France and Britain said they wont Cut their nuclear stockpiles until the United states and Russia further reduce theirs. Franco plans to Cut its army strength by 50,01 0, to about 225,000, Over the next live years but officials expect the defense budget to be stable. The British government projects that defence spending will remain steady at $41 billion to $45 trillion thou us i Jos while manpower is Cut by to percent