The House of Representatives Armed Services Committee unanimously approved its version of a gigantic defense policy bill.
The committee voted 56-0 to pass the $ 740.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after a nearly 14-hour markup.
Approval marks a milestone in a process complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. The profit margin was delayed from its originally scheduled date in late April, and when it did take place it was held in a larger-than-usual room, with mostly masked members sitting at separate tables and some virtually participating.
During consideration of the bill on Wednesday, the panel passed several amendments on hot topics, including the requirement that the Pentagon rename bases and other properties with Confederate nicknames within a year.
The committee vote came later President Trump
Donald John Trump House panel approves defense policy bill 0.5B House of Representatives panel votes against curtailment of Insurrection Law powers after heated debate Panel votes House of Representatives to restrict Afghan withdrawal, request evaluation on ‘incentives’ to attack US troops threatened to veto the NDAA if it includes the requirement to rename the bases.
Including the requirement in the House bill significantly increases the odds that it will make it to Trump’s desk. The Senate has in its version of the bill a requirement to change the name of the property within three years, and it is difficult to remove language during bicameral negotiations on a bill if there are similar provisions in both versions.
The House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approved an amendment Wednesday to ban the Confederate battle flag from all Pentagon properties.
Meanwhile, the panel rejected an amendment to change the Insurrection Law that President Trump threatened to invoke amid racial justice protests last month.
Another amendment approved by the panel seeks to restrict Trump’s ability to withdraw US troops from Germany by requiring a series of certifications and reports before he is allowed to.
The committee also approved an amendment to require the administration to make various certifications to Congress before withdrawing to Afghanistan, including information on whether any country has offered incentives for the Taliban to attack US and coalition troops.
That amendment was passed amid a firestorm in Washington over intelligence showing that a Russian military intelligence unit offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants for killing US and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
The underlying bill passed by the committee also seeks to block possible troop withdrawals in Africa and South Korea.
The bill would also create a $ 1 billion fund to prepare for the Pentagon pandemic as the country continues to struggle with the coronavirus crisis.
It would also establish a $ 3.6 billion fund to deter China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, one of the major fights in last year’s NDAA, blocking the use of Pentagon funds on the Trump border wall, is addressed less directly this year.
The NDAA passed by the House last year would have restricted the ability to transfer money between accounts, and would have created a blanket ban on the use of Pentagon funds for the wall. But those provisions were removed from the bill during negotiations with the Republican-controlled Senate, and the NDAA that was enacted in December did not address the wall.
This year’s NDAA, by contrast, would create limits on the emergency use of military construction funds, setting them at $ 100 million for domestic projects and $ 500 million for projects abroad. To date, Trump has taken $ 3.6 billion of military construction funds for the wall.
In a nod to the rank member Rep. Mac Thornberry
William (Mac) McClellan ThornberryHouse Panel Passes Defense Policy Bill 0.5B Votes for House Armed Services to make Pentagon rename Confederate-named bases in one year Panel votes of the House to limit Trump’s withdrawal to Germany MOREIn withdrawing (R-Texas) from Congress at the end of this period, the committee also voted in one of its last moves of the night to officially name this year’s bill as the “William M. National Defense Authorization Act ( Mac) Thornberry for Fiscal Year 2021. “
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