Military leaders say defense budget is critically low

U.S. military leaders are pressing President Clinton to boost the Defense Department budget, because they say they cannot recruit and retain military personnel with the money they have. Leaders warn that they need as much as an annual $15 billion extra for several years unless they can eliminate major weapons programs or overseas deployments. Top officers acknowledge that they are having difficulty meeting their goals of readiness and weapons modernization. They also say they have not been able to save as much money as they thought they could from closing unnecessary bases. - J.K.