Zippyjuan
08-01-2018, 07:34 PM
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/01/senate-defense-bill-trump-717791
Military getting another raise. Restrictions on Chinese firm ZTE removed.
The Senate on Wednesday easily cleared and sent to President Donald Trump a compromise $717 billion defense policy bill aimed at building up the military and blunting Chinese foreign investment and telecommunications technology.
The final vote on the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act was 87-10. The president is expected to sign it.
Next, the Senate turns to legislation to fund the Defense Department, which will likely be packaged with an annual Labor-HHS-Education spending bill to attract bipartisan support.
The final defense policy bill is the product of brisk talks between leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, who are finishing their work in historic fashion. If the NDAA is signed soon, as expected, it would be the first time in more than two decades a defense policy bill has become law before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
The bill continues Republican defense hawks’ efforts to build up the military, which they contend has degraded under years of budget caps and a lack of emphasis during the Obama administration.
"It is what we have to do to defend America," said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has managed the bill for Senate Republicans. "After all, the No. 1 thing we should be doing around here is defending America.
“We’re going to restore what we have lost, and it’s all happening in this bill,” he added.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hailed the blowout vote, saying the bill's historically quick passage "demonstrated the deep and abiding bipartisan support our military enjoys."
"It is now our duty to implement these policies responsibly and ensure a culture of performance and accountability," he said in a statement.
In all, the bill would authorize a $717 billion national defense budget topline, including $616.9 billion for the base Pentagon budget and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department. Another extra $69 billion would be authorized to fund U.S. war efforts under the Overseas Contingency Operations account.
The legislation is named for Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been at home in Arizona since late last year battling brain cancer. Since taking over the panel in 2015, McCain has advocated boosting the defense budget and, more recently, is one of the few outspoken Republican critics of Trump's conduct of national security and foreign policy.
In a statement, McCain said he was "humbled" that his colleagues named the bill after him and praised the legislation and the overwhelming bipartisan support for it.
But the measure doesn't include a bipartisan provision, originally included in the Senate version of the bill, to reinstate sanctions against ZTE and undo a deal the company recently cut with the Commerce Department.
While popular in both parties, the White House staunchly opposed undoing the ZTE deal, which included a $1 billion fine, changes to its executive leadership and embedding a compliance team.
Ahead of the vote, supporters of reinstating ZTE sanctions criticized their omission in the final bill.
"A fine, when you're backed by the Chinese government, a multibillion-dollar fine is nothing," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who opposed the final bill.
Military getting another raise. Restrictions on Chinese firm ZTE removed.
The Senate on Wednesday easily cleared and sent to President Donald Trump a compromise $717 billion defense policy bill aimed at building up the military and blunting Chinese foreign investment and telecommunications technology.
The final vote on the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act was 87-10. The president is expected to sign it.
Next, the Senate turns to legislation to fund the Defense Department, which will likely be packaged with an annual Labor-HHS-Education spending bill to attract bipartisan support.
The final defense policy bill is the product of brisk talks between leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, who are finishing their work in historic fashion. If the NDAA is signed soon, as expected, it would be the first time in more than two decades a defense policy bill has become law before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
The bill continues Republican defense hawks’ efforts to build up the military, which they contend has degraded under years of budget caps and a lack of emphasis during the Obama administration.
"It is what we have to do to defend America," said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has managed the bill for Senate Republicans. "After all, the No. 1 thing we should be doing around here is defending America.
“We’re going to restore what we have lost, and it’s all happening in this bill,” he added.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hailed the blowout vote, saying the bill's historically quick passage "demonstrated the deep and abiding bipartisan support our military enjoys."
"It is now our duty to implement these policies responsibly and ensure a culture of performance and accountability," he said in a statement.
In all, the bill would authorize a $717 billion national defense budget topline, including $616.9 billion for the base Pentagon budget and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department. Another extra $69 billion would be authorized to fund U.S. war efforts under the Overseas Contingency Operations account.
The legislation is named for Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has been at home in Arizona since late last year battling brain cancer. Since taking over the panel in 2015, McCain has advocated boosting the defense budget and, more recently, is one of the few outspoken Republican critics of Trump's conduct of national security and foreign policy.
In a statement, McCain said he was "humbled" that his colleagues named the bill after him and praised the legislation and the overwhelming bipartisan support for it.
But the measure doesn't include a bipartisan provision, originally included in the Senate version of the bill, to reinstate sanctions against ZTE and undo a deal the company recently cut with the Commerce Department.
While popular in both parties, the White House staunchly opposed undoing the ZTE deal, which included a $1 billion fine, changes to its executive leadership and embedding a compliance team.
Ahead of the vote, supporters of reinstating ZTE sanctions criticized their omission in the final bill.
"A fine, when you're backed by the Chinese government, a multibillion-dollar fine is nothing," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who opposed the final bill.