President Bush warned Congress on Friday not to look for big savings from Pentagon spending and complained that his key domestic initiatives were mired ``in the jungles on Capitol Hill.'' While applauding the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe, Bush cautioned against expectations of any ``peace dividend'' in the military budget, saying that is ``not money in the bank. It is more like a possible future inheritance.'' Meanwhile, he said, ``It's impossible today to know what will unfold in the next six months, let alone the next six years.'' Bush said the U.S. invasion of Panama was proof that America must have a ``ready and highly effective defense force.'' The president spoke to about 1,500 people at a gathering of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Later, he met privately with the family of Army Pfc. James Markwell, a Ranger medic killed by gunfire in his drop zone in the Panama invasion. The White House said Bush expressed his personal sympathy and gratitude for the sacrifice that Markwell made for his country. Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater, speaking with reporters later, said the president's talk with the family of the dead soldier was ``a pretty emotional meeting.'' Fitzwater said that ``we were all pretty broken up about it,'' referring to the president, as well as several aides and Secret Service agents. Fitzwater said that the soldier's mother, Mrs. William Rouse, showed the president a poem that her son had written when he was 15 years old about being in the military, as well as a ``death message'' that he had written before going into combat. Fitzwater said that in that message her son ``was proud of what he was doing. It was a little message for each of the people he knew in life.'' ``That was really tough,'' Fitzwater said. Bush also has sent letters of condolence to the families of all those killed in Panama, officials said. The president's combative stand toward Congress sets the tone for legislative battles likely to erupt after lawmakers return to work Jan. 23. Bush will send his budget to Congress on Jan. 29 and deliver his State of the Union Address on Jan. 30. He said the Democratic-controlled Congress had stalled action on his plans to lower capital gains taxes, beef up education programs, strengthen clean-air regulations and fight crime. ``And these four issues are bogged down in the jungles on Capitol Hill,'' Bush said. ``The clock is running and America's patience is running out,'' Bush said. While saying he was not trying to assign any blame, Bush said, ``America wants it done right, America wants it done responsibly and America wants it done now.'' The fall of hardline communist governments in Eastern Europe has prompted calls in Congress and elsewhere for lowering defense spending and targeting the money for other purposes. ``That's like the next-of-kin who spend the inheritance before the will is read,'' Bush said. ``Of course, whenever a potential inheritance looms,'' he said, ``there are those eager to rush out and squander it, to buy new things, to spend, to spend, to spend _ spending funds they don't yet have. ``Then the bills start coming, and the inheritance may not,'' Bush said. ``And what was promised as a bonus becomes a burden.'' He won applause by saying, ``most Americans know we not only must maintain our defenses but still must reduce the deficit.'' Bush also paid a visit to predominantly black Taft High School, where he hailed a program of business leaders, government officials and educators to reduce dropouts and improve academic performance. Several speakers told Bush there was a sense of hopelessness among inner-city youths and asked what he could do about it. He said the best answer was ``encouraging the strength of the family.'' Bush said federal resources for education were limited but that he would call for some increases in overall school spending when he presents his fiscal 1991 budget to Congress on Jan. 23, including expanding the Head Start program for disadvantaged pre-school children. But, the president added, ``I don't think you can design a curriculum to lift the self-esteem of a kid. It's got to come from peers, it's got to come from family, it's got to come from dedicated volunteers or workers who are saying, `Hey, you are somebody. You can amount to something.''
