President Clinton toured a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on Friday and declared that, despite base closings and other deep defense cuts, he will not leave "men and women who helped win the Cold War out in the cold."

Clinton used his visit to the carrier - his first address to troops as president - to promote his program to downsize the military and convert military programs to peaceful projects."We cannot repeal the laws of change," Clinton said in a speech to hundreds of sailors and Marines on the hangar deck of the immense carrier, which was cruising about 70 miles out in the Atlantic off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.

But Clinton said the military could be made more efficient to match post-Cold War realities. He said there would be "a raging debate" in the months ahead about "bases and budgets." He got polite but unenthusiastic applause.

Defense Secretary Les Aspin on Friday proposed closing 31 major military bases and cutting operations at 134 others, acknowledging the pain to local economies but saying the cuts were inescapable in paring the post-Cold War military.

Apart from his speech, Clinton also addressed troops around the world in remarks broadcast over the Armed Forces Radio Network.

"There is no single decision I take more seriously than those involving the use of force," Clinton said. "As I weigh crises that confront America around the world, you will be in my mind and in my heart."

Wearing a green flight jacket and a baseball cap with the ship's insignia on it, Clinton climbed to the bridge level of the carrier's superstructure to watch a demonstration of jets roaring off the flight deck far below.

The ship was on its way from Norfolk, Va., to the Mediterranean for a six-month mission. The president flew from the White House by helicopter.

He and Aspin spent more than three hours on the carrier, which has a crew of 5,500, as a list of base closings was being announced back in Washington.

"I know this is a difficult thing for you . . . especially when the challenges before us seem unclear," Clinton said.

He said while the nation's military was being downsized, it was also being made more efficient. He cited the carrier's mission - which includes a contingent of Marines - as an example of increasing efficiency through dual-purpose use.

Clinton stressed his programs for helping industries and communities shift away from defense-based economies and to help retrain defense workers.

At the same time, Clinton said, "We must remain ready."

"As we reduce defense spending, I will not let men and women who helped win the Cold War out in the cold," Clinton declared.

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As he ate a lunch of chicken and baked potatoes in the mess quarters, Clinton was asked by a reporter if he felt he needed to come to the carrier for symbolic reasons on the day so many base closings were announced.

"I think I need to be here because I'm the commander in chief," Clinton said.

In his later remarks, Clinton, whose draft status and lack of service in the armed services during the Vietnam War became a campaign issue, told the Theodore Roosevelt crew there was "no greater honor" than being the commander in chief.

Aides said it was Clinton's first visit to an aircraft carrier. He is the first president since Franklin D. Roosevelt who did not serve in the military.

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