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House lawmakers on Thursday approved a $ 840 billion plan to drive Pentagon policy and spending next year, giving strong bipartisan support to legislation aimed at helping the United States compete better. with China technologically, address the mistakes made during the withdrawal from Afghanistan last year and improve scrutiny. of military aid provided to Ukraine and point to an increase in domestic extremism.
The legislation, considered one of the few laws “that must be passed” by congressional authors each year, has not yet been reconciled with the Senate version. The text of this document has not been made public and is expected to reshape the amount of money that will be allocated to the Department of Defense. The implementation of the defense bill will also be subject to the endowments of Congress, which have not been finalized, and may not cover all programs authorized by law.
The House bill devotes considerable attention to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s advances in hypersonic weapons and other cutting-edge military technologies, and rampant inflation that is hitting the U.S. economy. It also directs military leaders to analyze the dangers posed by uniformed individuals who adopt white supremacist beliefs, neo-Nazism, and anti-Semitism. The legislation specifically mentions the Proud Boys, a far-right group whose prominent role in last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol has been an intense focus for federal prosecutors and the House Select Committee conducting a parallel research.
The Pentagon promised to confront extremism in the ranks. After Jan. 6, experts say more needs to be done.
The bipartisan endorsement reflected in Thursday’s vote did not accompany all provisions. For example, all Republicans voted against a measure that required a report to Congress on efforts to combat the threats posed by white supremacy and neo-Nazism in the ranks. Other amendments that fell mainly on party lines included directives to streamline the legal procedures of Guantanamo Bay detainees, set fair labor standards for military contractors, and ensure that victims of harassment and discrimination are harassed. their cases will be heard within 180 days.
On Russia, in addition to demanding that the U.S. military in Europe break away from the Kremlin’s energy supply, the House voted this week to prevent Moscow from trading in gold or rejoining international organizations. Lawmakers also ordered the Pentagon to implement, within six months, best accounting practices for all U.S. military assistance sent to Ukraine, and ordered the Department of Defense inspector general to report semi-annually on the US response to Russian aggression.
As the Ukrainian war sinks, U.S. assessments face scrutiny
The bill calls for a study of what resources NATO needs to deter Russian aggression and allocates $ 100 million in funding to train Ukrainian pilots, a sign of Congress’ intention to invest in Kyiv’s ability to fight both in heaven and on earth.
As for China, lawmakers supported measures on its expanding global footprint and to consolidate U.S. relations with Taiwan, including feasibility studies to improve military cooperation.
On Afghanistan, while the underlying bill called for improvements to the complicated visa processing system that caused thousands of U.S. allies to be left behind after U.S. personnel withdrew, the House added several amendments aimed at “increasing capacity” to bring more eligible Afghans to the United States. States. These include instructions to remove the requirements that Afghans applying for student visas must declare their intention to return to Afghanistan and for the Pentagon to draw up plans to reimburse U.S. service members and veterans who leave. help evacuate Afghans eligible for personal visas.
Some of the amendments passed by the House are likely to complicate President Biden’s foreign policy priorities, including a provision that would temporarily halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the assassination of Washington Post journalist and contributor Jamal Khashoggi. . Biden is in Saudi Arabia, trying to re-establish relations with leaders the U.S. government believes ordered the assassination.
There is also a provision to ban the sale of any F-16s in Turkey without the Biden administration first providing certain guarantees on how they will be used, a restriction that could complicate efforts to deter resistance from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
House tries to avoid messy political battles over the Pentagon bill
Many of the provisions added to the defense bill this week were designed to improve the working conditions of service members at a time when military families are facing growing economic and health challenges. The House voted in favor of extending a 4.6 percent salary increase for staff with an additional 2.4 percent increase – “inflation pay” – for those earning $ 45,000 and a signal to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who may increase that amount if the inflation rate worsens.
The House also voted on a number of amendments to expand investment in military health care, with a particular focus on addressing exposure to toxics and treating mental health. Among them is a provision that would give the green light to research into whether ecstasy and other psychedelic drugs are viable substitutes for opioids or as a treatment for post-traumatic stress.
While the bill avoids the national debate over abortion that follows the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal Roe against Wade, directs the Pentagon to take a number of measures to address reproductive health, including a pilot program to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It demands a new demographic monitoring by the military when it comes to medical personnel reports, part of a general trend to address racial, ethnicity and gender identity disparities.
Finally, the bill contains measures that the House has passed in past years but have not become law. These include provisions to repeal authorizations for the use of military force approved in 2002, 1991 and 1957 to approve military operations in the Middle East. Also included in the legislation are orders to eliminate federal sentence disparities between crack and powdered cocaine, allow cannabis companies access to the U.S. banking system, and grant the DC mayor the same authority that the governors of the 50 states to mobilize the National Guard for the locality. emergencies.