Senate vote sends $585B military policy bill to Obama's desk

The U.S. Defense Department's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would stay open and planes the Air Force wants to retire would continue to fly under a military policy bill headed to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.




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The bill, which the Senate cleared Friday on a vote of 89-11, would provide the core funding of $521.3 billion for the military and $63.7 billion for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Congress has come together over the years to make improvements in pay, benefits and health care for the men and women of the military; to reform the way in which we buy the weapons they use to carry out their missions," said Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the retiring chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The bill, passed by the House last week, rejects many of the Defense Department's cost-cutting efforts.

The A-10, a close-air support craft from the Cold War era, would be retained despite the Pentagon's desire to retire it. The legislation also would ban another round of military base closings and continue purchases of radar-jamming jets made by Chicago-based Boeing Co.

The Pentagon asked Congress for the money to buy 100 Tomahawk missiles, which played a high-profile role in the military intervention in Libya. The legislation would authorize $82 million, enough for an additional 96 missiles.

The Defense Department would get full funding for the 34 F-35s it requested. The fighter is the costliest U.S. weapons program and one of those given the most scrutiny by lawmakers.

On policy issues, Congress reasserted its ban on closing the Guantanamo prison, where detainees suspected of terrorist activities are held. Obama has long sought to shut it down, and an earlier Senate version of the bill would have let the Defense Department relocate detainees to the continental U.S. once the president presented a plan with strict security provisions.

The measure also extends the Pentagon's authority to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic State. The measure would provide two-year authority to reprogram funds to carry out the program.

The measure would permit an additional $450 million to be spent this year for five of Boeing's EA-18G Growler aircraft.

While the Pentagon didn't seek money for the planes, Navy officials told Congress that buying more Growlers topped their wish list for items that didn't make the budget request.

It also would authorize $350 million for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, which includes a $175 million increase over the Pentagon's budget request that was sought by Israel.

The measure would require that the funds be used according to a U.S.-Israel agreement on co-production mandating that 55 percent of parts and components be made in the U.S. Iron Dome is now built in Israel by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

The measure also would prod the Pentagon to transition from the use of Russian rocket engines to a domestic alternative for national security space launches.

It would authorize $220 million for the development of a U.S. propulsion system by 2019 and prohibit the secretary of defense from buying launch services using Russian rocket engines other than those already under contract as of Feb. 1, 2014. The funding bill follows a similar path.

The legislation would authorize $585 billion in budget authority for national defense programs, down from $625.1 billion in the previous year -- reflecting continued reductions in core defense spending and a decline in funds dedicated to the war in Afghanistan.

Congressional negotiators granted part of the Defense Department's request for help in slowing the growth of health care spending.

The bill would increase out-of-pocket costs for pharmacy co-payments under the Tricare military health system. The plan's beneficiaries who aren't on active duty would see a one-time increase of $3 for pharmacy co-payments for retail prescriptions and mail-order nongeneric prescriptions.

Lawmakers also sought to strengthen provisions for the prevention of sexual assault in the military. The changes include the elimination of the "good soldier defense," the consideration of general military character toward the probability of innocence in sexual-assault prosecutions.

Victims also would be consulted as to their preference for prosecuting offenders by court-martial or through civilian channels.

A Section on 12/13/2014

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