WASHINGTON, May 14—A proposal by the Bush administration to allow development of new kinds of small nuclear weapons has been rejected by the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee.
In a voice vote held Tuesday night, the committee approved a Democratic measure retaining a 10-year-old ban on the development of nuclear weapons with explosive force of less than five kilotons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was about 15 kilotons.
The Bush administration had pressed for repeal of the ban, known as the Spratt-Furse amendment, arguing that the prohibition has had a chilling affect on scientific research related to nuclear weapons.
In a compromise reached between Representative Curt Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Representative John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat who was an author of the original ban, the Armed Services Committee approved a measure to allow research into low-yield nuclear weapons.
But the measure maintains the prohibition on development, production and acquisition of low-yield nuclear weapons. The provision is part of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that is expected to reach the House floor later this month.
"The action in the House sends an important message: that the United States is not backsliding towards development of new battlefield nuclear weapons," Mr. Spratt said in a statement.
Last week, a sharply divided Senate Armed Services Committee voted to repeal the ban. Democrats have vowed to fight to maintain the ban on the Senate floor next week.
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