WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress despatched President Joe Biden a $768.2 billion protection invoice on Wednesday that makes landmark adjustments to the way in which the army handles sexual assaults, retains ladies out of the draft and lays the groundwork for a brand new conflict memorial on the Nationwide Mall.
The annual invoice, which has handed each the Home and Senate yearly for many years with out fail, nonetheless was delayed within the Senate by numerous disputes, together with a separate effort to halt items produced by compelled Uyghur labor in China from getting into the U.S. That measure is also now headed towards last approval and Biden’s desk.
The evenly divided Senate accredited the protection invoice Wednesday on a sturdy 88-11 vote.
The laws features a 2.7 % pay increase for each army servicemembers and the civilian Protection Division workforce, and authorizes $75.3 million for the operation of the Armed Forces Retirement Residence. It additionally authorizes an $9.9 billion for protection wants outdoors the invoice’s conventional jurisdiction, bringing the general price ticket to $777 billion.
The brand new conflict memorial would honor those that served within the World Battle on Terrorism, launched in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults on the U.S.
The Democratic chairman and rating Republican on the Senate Armed Providers Committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, issued a joint assertion praising passage, a uncommon second of comity within the divided Congress.
“This invoice sends a transparent message to our allies — that the US stays a dependable, credible accomplice — and to our adversaries — that the U.S. army is ready and totally in a position to defend our pursuits around the globe,” Inhofe mentioned.
These senators voting towards the invoice Wednesday included six Democrats, three Republicans and one impartial.
