Washington, Dec. 28 (BNA) – The White House said on Monday that US President Joe Biden has signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending.
Earlier this month, the Senate and House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the defense bill with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans for the annual legislation that defines Defense Department policy.
“The law provides vital benefits, enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families, and includes critical powers to support our country’s national defense,” Biden said in a statement after signing the bill, according to Reuters.
The NDAA is closely watched by a wide range of industry and other interests because it is one of the only major pieces of legislation that becomes law each year and because it addresses a wide range of issues. The NDAA has become law every year for six decades.
The NDAA fiscal 2022 law allowed military spending to increase by about 5% compared to last year, a compromise after intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate after it bogged down over disagreements over China and Russia policy.
It includes a 2.7% troop salary increase, more purchases of aircraft and naval vessels, as well as strategies for dealing with geopolitical threats, particularly Russia and China.
The NDAA includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, $4 billion for the European Defense Initiative and $150 million for security cooperation in the Baltic region.
Regarding China, the bill includes the $7.1 billion Pacific Deterrence Initiative and a statement of congressional support for the defense of Taiwan, as well as a ban by the Defense Department to purchase forced-produced products from China’s Xinjiang region.
A 16-member committee was formed to study the war in Afghanistan. Biden ended the conflict – by far the country’s longest war – in August.
Even as the White House heralded the passage of the National Defense Act, it has criticized provisions in the bill that prohibit the use of funds to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees to the custody of certain foreign countries or to the United States unless certain conditions are met.
“It is a long-term position of [the White House] “These provisions unduly impede the executive branch’s ability to determine when and where the Guantanamo Bay detainees will be prosecuted and where they will be sent upon their release,” Biden said in a statement.
Created to house foreign suspects in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, this prison has come to symbolize the excesses of America’s “war on terror” due to harsh interrogation techniques that critics say amount to torture.
Biden said he hopes to close the prison before his term expires, but the federal government is still prohibited by law from moving any inmates to prisons in the mainland United States. Even with Democrats in control of Congress now, Biden has such a slim majority that he will struggle to secure legislative changes because some Democrats may also oppose it.
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