House Approves Berman Arms Bill Amendment

An amendment by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) to prevent the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds to subsidize sales by U. S. arms manufacturers was passed by the House last week.

Berman has criticized the Pentagon’s decision to subsidize U. S. arms manufacturers’ marketing of their weapons at military trade conventions in the past year--reversing a 25-year policy.

Berman’s amendment banning this policy was included in the House version of the 1993 defense authorization bill. The Senate will pass its own version of the authorization bill and the two will be negotiated by a joint conference committee.

Berman blasted the Bush Administration for calling on other major arms-exporting countries to curtail their weapons sales in the wake of the Persian Gulf War but then doing “everything it can to increase global weapons purchases from U. S. companies.”