House Gop To Try To End Arts Aid

House Republican leaders bowed to pressure from conservatives Thursday and agreed to try to phase out taxpayer-financed aid for the arts over the next two years.

The concession ended a mini-revolt by five dozen of the House’s newer, more conservative members and allowed the chamber to resume debating a $12 billion measure financing federal land and cultural programs for the coming year.

The overall legislation, part of the GOP’s campaign to eliminate federal deficits by 2002, would trim $1.6 billion from this year’s levels. It would kill about two dozen energy conservation programs, shrink the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and erase or trim many other programs.

Separately, a House subcommittee approved a $244 billion defense bill for next year that would boost spending by nearly $8 billion over President Clinton’s request but expend about the same amount as this year. The money includes funds for future production of more B-2 bombers, which the Pentagon says it doesn’t need.