House nixes Owens bill to rescue military's pay

WASHINGTON — The House cast aside a proposal by Rep. William L. Owens Thursday to rescue military pay in the event of a government shutdown, as Republicans insisted onlinking that issue to budget cuts in other areas.


Mr. Owens's measure, offered as a Democratic alternative to the GOP'sone-week spending extension, fell on a party-line vote. One Republican, Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., supported it.


The Republican measure passed the House easily, although Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, and most Democrats voted against it. It cuts$12 billion and funds the Defense Department through the end of the fiscal year, removing the possibility that defense employees and soldiers would be affected by a shutdown.


In the Senate, Democratic LeaderSen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the one-week extension a non-starter and said he opposes yet another short-term measure to keep the government running — though he indicated an openness to what he called a "clean" measure. The White House took a similar stance.