Politics

House Plans to Approve Bi-partisan New Defense Bill

After President Bush sent the Defense Authorization bill back to the House saying that it would expose the Iraqi government to costly lawsuits (primarily seeking damages from the Sadam Hussein reign), the House plans to pass a new, revised Defense bill. The bill’s primary purpose is to fund Department of Defense policy, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday, House Democrats sent the bill back to the House Armed Services Committee to quickly address Bush’s concerns and have plans to send it to the floor for passage by the end of this week. It also includes a 3.5 percent pay raise for the troops. Overall, the bill authorizes approximately $696 billion in defense spending, which includes $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. -Anna Koch, Press Secretary for Rep. Conaway

Full post as published by Mike Conaway's Blog on January 16, 2008 (boomark / email).