Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: 22 May 1998 Author: Tom Raum, Associated Press Politics: Opponents in the $270 billion defense bill, is a waste of scarce resources. Washington-The House passed a $270 billion defence bill Thursday that includes authorizing the military to help patrol U.S. borders in the war against drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Opponents said the plan - an amendment approved 288-to-132 - could turn the U.S. Mexican border into an armed corridor. The overall bill, covering military programs and spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, was then passed on a 357-60 vote. The Senate is expected to vote on its aversion next month. The total price tag on the legislation is roughly the same as this year's Pentagon spending, and many members complained the lack of growth in the budget was hurting military readiness. The legislation includes $1.9 billion to keep U.S. forces in Bosnia and a 3.6 percent pay raise for the military - half a percentage point more than the Clinton administration had requested. The overall bill is also notable for one thing it doesn't include: another round of base closings sought by the Clinton administration. In an emotional debate, lawmakers sparred over whether the Pentagon could - or should - be called upon to deploy forces for "monitoring and patrolling" the U.S. Mexican border. Rep. James Traficant, R-Ohio, sponsor of the amendment, told the House the legislation only authorizes such a deployment - and doesn't require it. First, the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Customs Service would have to request the help - and the defense secretary would have to approve it. The Defense Department opposes the measure. "Maybe the Pentagon doesn't want it," said Traficant. "The American people not only want it, they need it." But opponents said that border patrolling was not a legitimate function of an already resource strapped Defense Department. "We shouldn't put thousands of Army soldiers on the border of Texas," said Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas. He said it would "make the Texas-Mexican border look like East Berlin after World War 11." But Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., said, "It is time this country did something about drugs. Put the 82nd Airborne on maneuvers down there if you want to stop drugs." The annual defense bill authorizes $270.4 billion for fiscal 1999, roughly the same amount as last year. The bill provides $3.8 billion for ballistic missile defense and $417 million to assist in removing military and nuclear threats from the former Soviet Union. House members rejected, by a 251 to 167 vote, an attempt by Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tom Campbell, R-Standord, to force to the floor an amendment that would require the 8,500 U.S. troops now in Bosnia to be brought home by year's end. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski