Joining Republicans in voting for the National Defense Authorization Act, 40 democratic senators helped pass the bill that will increase military spending among other things on Wednesday. The NDAA will hit Donald Trump’s desk today and is “on track to become law before the start of the fiscal year for the first time since the fiscal 1997 bill,” The Hill reported.
Overall, the NDAA will increase military spending by $82 billion for fiscal year 2019, Common Dreams reported.
“I call upon the president to sign this important legislation into law – and in doing so acknowledge that this is the level of defense spending necessary to meet current threats, prepare for the challenges of an increasingly dangerous world, and keep faith with our men and women in uniform,” Sen. John McCain said.
According to the Associated Press, “Lawmakers say the tens of billions of extra dollars are sorely needed to restock a U.S. military depleted by years of combat and a broken budgeting process that leaves the U.S. armed forces unsure of how much money they’ll get each year.”
The 40 democratic senators who voted in favor of the bill include the names listed below along with Angus King (I-Maine).
| Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) Michael Bennet (Colo.) Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) Cory Booker (N.J.) Sherrod Brown (Ohio) Maria Cantwell (Wash.) Ben Cardin (Md.) Tom Carper (Del.) Bob Casey (Penn.) Chris Coons (Del.) Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) Joe Donnelly (Ind.) Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) |
Maggie Hassan (N.H.) Martin Heinrich (N.M.) Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) Doug Jones (Ala.) Tim Kaine (Va.) Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) Patrick Leahy (Vt.) Joe Manchin (W.Va.) Claire McCaskill (Mo.) Bob Menendez (N.J.) Chris Murphy (Conn.) Patty Murray (Wash.) |
Bill Nelson (Fla.) Gary Peters (Mich.) Jack Reed (R.I.) Brian Schatz (Hawaii) Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) Tina Smith (Minn.) Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) Jon Tester (Mich.) Tom Udall (N.M.) Chris Van Hollen (Md.) Mark Warner (Va.) Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) |
The 10 democratic senators who voted against the bill include: Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mike Lee (R-Utah.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
While the NDAA will increase military spending, it will “limit the delivery of new F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and crack down on Chinese telecommunications technology and foreign investment,” Politico reported. The bill will also increase the military by 15,600 active-duty troops and add 13 new Navy warships, it will also increase troops’ pay by 2.6 percent, which is the highest pay raise in almost 10 years.
COMMENTS