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US President Joe Biden signed the US defense policy bill into law, with a record spending level of $886 billion annually for military spending and policies such as aid to Ukraine and confronting China in the Indo-Pacific region.
The bill, one of the few major pieces of legislation Congress passes each year, regulates everything from wage increases for active-duty soldiers and the purchase of ships and aircraft to policies such as support for foreign partners like Taiwan.
The law calls for an increase in soldiers’ salaries by 5.2 percent and an increase in the country’s total national security budget by about 3 percent to $886 billion.
It also lists some Chinese battery companies that it says are ineligible for Defense Department procurement. The bill expands one measure to aid Ukraine, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through the end of 2026, approving $300 million for the program in the fiscal year ending 30 December 2024 and the following year.
However, this number pales in comparison to the $61 billion that Biden has asked Congress to approve to help Kiev combat Russia’s special military operation that began in February 2022.
Congress approved the National Defense Authorization Act legislation last week, and the US Senate, controlled by Democrats, approved the legislation with a strong bipartisan majority of 87 votes to 13, while the House of Representatives voted in favor of it by 310 votes to 118.
Source: Sky News
2023-12-23 12:18:52