Washington Post:
The House on Thursday adopted the conference report for the annual defense policy bill on a 270 to 156 vote, which is not enough support to override President Obama’s promised veto of the legislation.
The breakdown comes over just one point: $38.2 billion in additional spending that the Republican leaders of the Armed Services committees added by tapping a war funding account, the Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO), in order to meet the Pentagon’s budget request without blowing through the so-called sequestration spending caps.
The White House and congressional Democrats oppose any increases in defense spending unless the caps are raised for domestic programs and agencies as well. While the policy bill only authorizes the funding, as opposed to allowing it to be spent, the White House has said a veto will be issued on the bill until the broader budget debate is settled.
Pushing back against this argument, Republicans, led by House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), said Thursday that the bill is “good for the troops and good for the country.” The disputed OCO funds are an appropriations issue, Thornberry added, and “not a reason to vote against this bill.”
But Democrats, led by House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith, called the extra OCO funds “a dodge,” “imaginary money,” and a sum that would be “gone, done, poof, not gonna happen,” Smith said, as soon as the bill reaches the president’s desk.
The Senate is expected to take up the measure in the next few days.
Members of both parties bemoaned how the budget battle is overshadowing a bill that otherwise has broad support.
Republican and Democratic leaders have praised the painstaking work and compromise that went into finalizing the measure over several weeks.
The policy bill resolved several points of contention between the versions passed by the House and Senate, including those touching on national security, military procurement and healthcare and pensions for retired personnel…
…Rocket engines aren’t the only place the United States is once again getting competitive with old enemies. A notable part of the legislation puts extra oomph behind missile defense systems used in Europe, Israel and America — which conference committee leaders argued were an essential part of enhancing the United States’ military capacity in an increasingly dangerous world. The bill directs Defense Secretary Ash Carter to start planning for the air defense of missile defense sites in Romania and Poland to defend against potential aggression from Russia, and puts $30 million toward designing missile defense systems for the East Coast to defend against potential threats from Iranian long-range ballistic missiles. The Israeli missile defense systems also would receive about $320 million under the measure.
Operations aimed at improving intelligence on Russian threats also get some attention, in order to better respond to threats and warn European allies to be on alert for those detected. The bill also marks about $300 million for security aid to Ukraine, $50 million of that lethal aid, and directs the Pentagon to come up with ways to deter Russia from pursuing similar campaigns in other countries…
