‘Revolving Door’ Issue Deadlocks Arms Bill Negotiators : Senators Oppose House’s 2-Year Ban on Pentagon Employees’ Taking Defense Firm Jobs

WASHINGTON —  House-Senate negotiators, who already have smoothed out their differences over fiscal 1986 spending for major weapons systems, were severely deadlocked Monday on a measure designed to halt the so-called “revolving door” that permits Pentagon workers to accept lucrative jobs in the defense industry.

Conference committee members, who have been meeting in closed sessions for more than a week, said that they were unable to find a compromise between House and Senate versions of a “revolving-door” measure. It was described by some participants as the last major stumbling block to an agreement on a $302.5-billion defense budget for next year.

Major Issues Resolved

The committee last week resolved differences between the House and Senate on such major issues as deployment of the MX missile, funding for President Reagan’s controversial “Star Wars” space-based missile defense system and testing of anti-satellite weapons in space.

But Rep. Charles E. Bennett (D-Fla.) said in an interview that neither he nor House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin (D-Wis.) will sign the conference report unless it includes a strong provision to halt the “revolving door.” Bennett sponsored the House-passed version, which bars Pentagon officials who oversee defense contracts from accepting jobs with contractors under their purview for two years after they leave government.

“There are no concessions on the two-year ban that I have considered,” he said.

Bennett described his measure as the most popular procurement reform provision adopted by the Congress this year as part of the defense authorization bill.

“The ‘revolving door’ is a symbol to the public--the one thing they really understand,” he said. “It’s also the only clear position that Congress took against the Pentagon.”

But Senate negotiators, led by Sens. Dan Quayle (R-Ind.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), strongly opposed the House-passed measure as being too restrictive. In contrast, the Senate-passed measure simply would require Pentagon officials to remove themselves from overseeing a contractor’s work once they begin discussing employment with that company.

Abridgement of Rights

A spokesman for Levin, one of the Senate’s most liberal members on defense matters, said that he opposes the House measure because it goes too far in abridging the rights of Pentagon employees. He noted that opponents of the measure include several members of Congress who otherwise favor reform of the Pentagon’s procurement practices.

Pentagon officials, who support the Senate version, argued that the two-year ban on employment would discourage persons from taking procurement-related jobs in the Defense Department--a charge Bennett hotly denies.

“I tell them, ‘You’ll get better people--people who will go to work because they enjoy the challenges,’ ” he said.

Although opponents of Bennett’s “revolving-door” measure claim to have majority support on the conference committee, according to sources, they are reluctant to bring the issue to a vote for fear of being portrayed by House Democrats as opponents of procurement reform.

Waiver of Ban Rejected

House Democrats note also that members of their chamber soundly rejected, by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1, a substitute amendment that would have allowed the defense secretary to waive the two-year ban for some Pentagon employees.

At present, Pentagon employees who accept a position with a defense contractor are required to file a report with the government disclosing their job switch. In fiscal 1985, according to members of Congress who have reviewed the documents, about 3,400 persons filed such reports. But officials estimate that many “revolving-door” users did not comply with the requirement.