Cohen says Bush should double defense cuts > Senator says $50 billion would be saved over five years

WASHINGTON — Sen. William S. Cohen said Thursday that the Bush administration was reacting too slowly to the easing of Cold War tensions and should double its level of proposed defense cuts, a move that would result in an additional $50 billion in savings over the next five years.

At a press conference with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Cohen outlined a military restructuring plan that would terminate or curtail a variety of expensive weapons systems such as the B-2 stealth bomber and rail-based MX missile.

The Maine senator and other members of the state’s congressional delegation, however, asserted that a post-Cold War U.S. military still will need the Navy’s proposed fleet of 38 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke destroyers, many of which would be built at the Bath Iron Works.

Defense Secretary Richard Cheney disclosed Wednesday that he has ordered a fundamental review of the $27 billion Burke destroyer and $36 billion SSN-21 Seawolf attack submarine shipbuilding programs.

Although conceding that the Seawolf program is in “trouble” and could be cut back, Cohen defended the Burke destroyers, telling reporters that he was not concerned about the new Pentagon review.

Rep. Joseph E. Brennan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed with Cohen that there was nothing to be “alarmed” about Cheney’s new review of the DDG-51 system. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell said post-Cold War changes actually would increase the Navy’s reliance on new high-tech support ships like the DDG-51.

At their press conference, Cohen and McCain called for cuts in defense spending of 4 percent a year, rather than the 2 percent adjusted for inflation suggested by the administration.

The lower level of spending, he claimed, would support the United States’ three basic military objectives “of deterring nuclear war, keeping Moscow from dominating the Eurasian land mass and maintaining open access to the seas.”

McCain, a proponent of the B-2 bomber last year, would limit production but indicated he could go either way on killing the program. Cohen said he would immediately terminate the program.

McCain proposed looking “toward dramatic restructuring of our strategic capability” to a two-pronged system rather than three, McCain said, “composed of strategic aircraft capability and our submarine Trident forces.”

The senators also proposed a reduction in the overall number of ships, deferral of the Navy’s version of the Advanced Tactical Fighter and a review of the Seawolf attack submarine program.

They said that the United States should continue some research on Star Wars and many other advanced systems to maintain the country’s edge in military technology, but go slow on production or deployment of such weapons.