unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/02/89)
the specifics of the services' recommendations on how to
implement the management review.
Q: Can you tell us who has been appointed as the Service
Acquisition Executives for the three services?
A: I don't know. We'll take the question. I'm told, by the
way, that this is the first visit by a Soviet Defense Minister
to the United States.
Q: Do you have anything on the investigation of Captain Hirsch?
A: There's nothing really new. No change in his status. The
Air Forc investigation is still in progress. He's still at
Kelly Air Force Base in Texas. He's still restricted to the
base. No charges have been filed, so there really isn't any
change in the status.
Now I don't know anything about the FBI being brought in. I
think Air Force would be the best source to go to for an answer
on that.
Q: Now that the IOWA thing is largely behind us, can we go back
to the F-117, what kind of declassification might be coming our
way? You've been very helpful about the B-2 and all the flights
and what it did on each flight, and arguably that's a more
important program.
A: It's a good question and it's one that we're looking at.
I'm sorry I don't have a more definitive answer for you. You're
not the only one that has made this case--it's just the most
persuasively that the case has been made so far. (Laughter) No,
you're not the first to make the case, and we're seeing what we
can do for you.
Q: Coming back to Colombia, you said there were 21 people
currently in country.
A: Connected with the specific emergency program. There are
obviously other military people in Colombia for other purposes,
but specifically those connected with the Emergency Drug
Program, 21 is the number.
Q: Can you elaborate as to what units they're from, what
they're doing there?
A: It changes from day to day, frankly. Many of them go down
to unload aircraft, to make sure that landing strips are
secure. The number fluctuates. I certainly don't have the
details here of who they are. You could go back to DDI, but I
frankly think it's going to be hard for them to give you much of
a breakdown. As a general matter, we really haven't gone into
that sort of detail on it.
Q: Are they mostly from units in Panama?
A: They would all be under SOUTHCOM's jurisdiction, but
precisely where they came from, I don't know.
Q: As a followup, have there been any incidents involving
American personnel in Colombia?
A: Any incidents involving American personnel?
Q: They've had bombings taking place in Colombia. Have any of
them affected American personnel in any way?
A: Not that I'm aware of.
Let me just say a couple of other things. There was
considerable interest in a vote Tuesday in the Senate on the
defense budget. Obviously the defense budget is something we
continue to be interested in. Secretary Cheney was up on the
Hill again yesteday discussing the defense budget. The Senate
is still debating the Appropriations Bill, but there was some
characterization of the Tuesday vote as "the vote" on the SDI
program. Let me say that I think that is very soft ground,
that's very thin ice--I'm just full of these wonderful
expressions today! The vote that was referred to in a couple of
the news accounts was an $8 billion amendment in budget authority
put some things back into the Senate Appropriations Committee
Bill which is being debated. It had a total, as I say, of
$8,491,000,000 in budget authorit and $710 million in outlays,
of which SDI was $298 million, so that's less than 4 percent of
the total. Now that was a straight up and down vote on that
amendment. To say that that vote was a vote on SDI, I think, is
stretching the matter.
Additionally, you need to know that that was a substitute
amendment. T Appropriations Committee had its own amendment. I
think there is some perception here that one of the reasons that
bill failed was that the appropriators didn't like the
substitute. They wanted their own amendment -- So I'm just
cautioning you that I don't necessarily share the interpretation,
I certainly don't share the interpretation -- that Tuesday's vote
was "_t_h_ on SDI. When you consider that that was an $8
billion package of which SDI was $298 million. There were a
whole bunch of other things in there--ice breakers, fast
sealift, AH-64s, Stingers, all kinds of other things. So I
think it's stretching it to say that it's the vote on SDI.
Q: You volunteered this answer. Would you also volunteer what
you think the outcome is going to be?
A: No, I would not make a prediction. I will reserve the right
to comment on stories as they come past the podium. But our
understanding is the Senate may have a separate up or down vote
on SDI.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
---
Patt Haring | United Nations | FAX: 212-787-1726
patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | BBS: 201-795-0733
patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | (3/12/24/9600 Baud)
-=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-