Cuts to Army will be weighed

WASHINGTON — A little more than a decade ago, the keynote speaker at the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center's annual meeting in Watertown — Rep. John M. McHugh — heaped praise on JRC for its accomplishments in 1999, which included a Blue Ribbon Contractor Award from the Army for custodial and recycling services at Fort Drum.

As Army secretary, Mr. McHugh could have a hand in slashing or saving those contracts.

Over the next several weeks, Mr. McHugh and other Army officials will weigh deep cuts to Army installations, including $36 million at Fort Drum, where officials already have decided that $350,000 in contracts with the JRC will be canceled. But after speaking with Mr. McHugh on Wednesday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said there is still time to restore the money as well as jobs that go with it.

Mr. McHugh promised to take a hard look at the budget cuts, Mr. Schumer's office said. The senator's office said the Army indicated the cuts could be reversed as late as March or April, and congressional aides working for Mr. Schumer and Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, are looking for ways to help the Army do that.

"Fort Drum is a critical part of life in the north country, as well as an economic engine for the region," Mr. Schumer said in a press release. "We must ensure that it has the resources it deserves so it can continue to employ hundreds of civilians in addition to the thousands of soldiers there. The Army agreeing to take a hard look is the first step down a path that could reverse these proposed cuts, and is heartening news."

The Army is making the cuts as part of this fiscal year's budget, as officials look for ways to offset war expenses. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that installations around the country are facing cuts of about 20 percent.

The cuts appear to put in practice a cut of $800 million in operations and maintenance approved by Congress for this year's Army budget. Installation-specific decisions were left to garrison commanders; at Fort Drum, leaders were told to find about $36 million in savings, said a Fort Drum spokeswoman, Julie A. Cuppernall.

Other lawmakers with military installations in their states or districts have taken an interest as well, Mr. Owens said Thursday. He said that he has not spoken with Mr. McHugh personally, but that he and Mr. Schumer are committed to restoring the entire amount cut.

Mr. Owens and Mr. Schumer visited Fort Drum earlier this month and pledged to fight the cuts, but post commanders did not share their plans for specific programs, Mr. Owens said.

"They said they were going through the process," and some vacant civilian positions would not be filled, Mr. Owens said.

An Army spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, said that she could confirm only that Mr. Schumer and Mr. McHugh spoke, and that the Army does not as a matter of policy discuss the nature of officials' conversations with members of Congress.

In Congress, Mr. McHugh was a dependable ally for both Fort Drum and the JRC.

At the JRC's annual meeting at the Carriage House Best Western in 1999, Mr. McHugh touted federal funding for people with disabilities.

"Those who have reached out to you for help are so much better because of your efforts," he said.

That evening, the JRC president, Daniel E. Stern, listed the Army award as one of the organization's proudest achievements.

At the Pentagon, though, Mr. McHugh inherited a budget crunch caused by climbing war costs in Afghanistan.

The budget cuts have caught the attention of the House Armed Services Committee, on which Mr. Owens sits. A spokeswoman for the committee, Lara Battles, said committee has asked the Army for more information about its planned cuts.