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Trump Signs $717b Defense Policy Bill Into Law

Donald Trump
Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump signed into law on Monday the $717 billion annual defense policy bill, the earliest in the year the bill has become law in more than four decades.

“The National Defense Authorization Act is the most significant investment in our military and our war-fighters in modern history, and I am very proud to be a big, big part of it,” Trump said before signing the bill, the Hill reported.

This year’s NDAA authorizes about $639 billion for the base budget of the Pentagon and defense programs of the Energy Department. It also allows for another $69 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operations account.

It fulfills several of the administration’s priorities to bulk up the military, including adding 15,600 troops across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The bill also follows the administration’s request for 77 F-35 fighter jets and goes beyond the administration’s request for Navy ships, authorizing a total of 13 new vessels.

The bill also gives troops a 2.6% pay raise, the highest in nine years.

This year’s NDAA is named for Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, who was unable to shepherd the bill through Congress this year as he remains at home receiving treatment for brain cancer.

The bill bans the government from contracting with Chinese telecommunications companies ZTE and Huawei, or companies that do business with them.

 

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