US House passes $611bn defence policy bill by wide margin

Washington: Republican-led House yesterday overwhelmingly backed a $611bn defence policy bill that rejects a number of President Barack Obama’s key proposals for managing the nation’s vast military enterprise.
Lawmakers passed the legislative package, 375-34. The bill now goes to the Senate where a vote is expected early next week.
The bill prohibits Obama from following through on his longstanding campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It also bars Pentagon from reducing number of military bases even though senior US defence officials said there is excess capacity, and it awards US troops their largest pay raise in six years. Obama had recommended a smaller pay increase.
The bill would prevent Pentagon from forcing thousands of California National Guard troops to repay enlistment bonuses and benefits they received a decade after they signed up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers would have to return a bonus only if a “preponderance of evidence” shows they knew they weren’t eligible to receive money.
Even at $611bn, the Republican chairman of House Armed Services Committee lamented that more money is needed in defence budget to restock the US arsenal worn down by 15 years of conflict. Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas said he is hopeful President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged during the campaign to spend more on military, will ask Congress early next year to boost fiscal year 2017 military spending even further.
During his 2008 bid for president, Obama pledged to close the detention facility at Guantanamo, which he called a recruiting tool for extremist groups. But Republicans and a number of Democrats repeatedly thwarted his goal over ensuing years, arguing the prison was badly needed for housing suspected terrorists. The ban on closing prison also includes a prohibition on moving Guantanamo detainees to secure facilities in the US.
Trump has not only pledged to keep Guantanamo open, he said during the campaign he wants to “load it up with some bad dudes.”
The defence legislation also authorises a 2.1 percent pay raise for the troops — a half-percentage point higher than the Pentagon requested in its budget presentation. The Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said it’s the largest military pay increase since 2010.
The White House Office of Management and Budget objected to the larger raise, telling lawmakers earlier this year that the lower amount would save $336m this fiscal year and $2.2bn through 2021. A bigger increase, the budget office said, would upset the careful balance between competitive pay and acquiring cutting-edge equipment and training.
The bill blocks the Pentagon’s planned reductions in the number of active-duty troops by prohibiting the Army from falling below 476,000 active-duty soldiers — 16,000 more than Obama’s defence budget had proposed. The bill also adds 7,000 service members to the Air Force and Marine Corps.