Alaska Public Media:
President Trump Tuesday signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act into law.
“This historic legislation demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our men and women in uniform,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony. “The greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And we’re making it a lot better than even that.”
The law authorizes nearly $700 billion for the military, about $150 billion above the spending cap established by the Budget Control Act of 2011. (Of the amount authorized, $65 billion is allocated for “Overseas Contingency Operations,” a fund Congress created to be exempt from the cap.)
Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the bill’s inclusion of more money for missile defense, including $200 million for a new missile field at Fort Greely, near Fairbanks, and 20 new interceptors that would be housed there. Sullivan is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, one of the committees responsible for drafting the annual authorization bill…
