Clinton Says He’ll Sign Contested Defense Bill Compromise Struck On $268 Billion Measure, Threatened With Veto

President Clinton said Saturday that he will sign a $268 billion defense bill that he had threatened to veto.

Clinton had promised to take out his veto pen if the bill contained language preventing two closing military bases in California and Texas from privatizing.

But a compromise was struck, so “I have decided to sign the defense bill,” said Clinton at McClellan Air Force Base near here.

Clinton said the compromise language was “not ideal,” but that Secretary of Defense William Cohen assured him that it is fair.

He announced economic rescue packages for McClellan and a second base, Kelly Air Force Base at San Antonio, Texas, to help foster privatization.

“We will continue to do everything we can to help McClellan make the transition,” the president said, listing several initiatives:

Transfer McClellan to Sacramento County at a discounted price, which was not disclosed. Machinery, equipment and vehicles would also be transferred.

Keep the Coast Guard at the base, contributing $2 million starting in 1999 until at least 2004.

Provide $11 million in fiscal year 1999 for a government-industry partnership to develop environmentally friendly metal casting methods.

Retain the Defense Department’s liability for the base’s nuclear reactor, making it possible for the facility to be used for another 30 years.

The president, in Sacramento for a wildlife area dedication and a fund-raiser, also said the government would provide $5 million for redevelopment efforts at Kelly and transfer machinery and equipment over to the base redevelopment agency.

The huge McClellan Air Force repair facility, along with the sprawling Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, was ordered closed by the 1995 base closure commission.

A coalition of lawmakers opposed to privatization because it would mean military bases in their states would absorb fewer jobs from the closing bases had tried to block the efforts.

Defenders of Kelly and McClellan fought for months to strip out of the defense bill provisions that would chill plans to privatize work at their bases, slated to close in 2001. At stake are some 5,000 Kelly jobs and 2,300 McClellan jobs that advocates for the two bases want spared by allowing defense contractors to take over the work and keep it on site.

In a letter to the president sent Nov. 13, Secretary of Defense William Cohen said the bill “changes the terms under which the department can conduct the remaining public-private competitions for Kelly and McClellan.”

Some changes would be helpful for privatization, others would hamper efforts, Cohen said.

But “on balance, I believe the department has flexibility to proceed … in a way that is fair to both sides,” Cohen said in the letter.

The Senate passed the defense authorization last week by a veto-proof margin after the Texas and California senators abandoned their filibuster in the hope Clinton would veto it. The House passed it earlier, also by a wide margin, making it possible that Congress could override a veto.

With Congress adjourned until January, Clinton could have vetoed the bill and left the issue in limbo for months.

While administration officials objected to language relating to the depots, the bill contains many provisions Clinton favors - including giving him the power to kill the B-2 bomber program and fully funding the F-22, FA-18 E and F and Joint Strike Fighters. It also provides the military a 2.8 percent pay raise.