WASHINGTON, May 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed its 717-billion-U.S.-dollar defense policy bill, authorizing pay raise for active-duty troops, more warships and fighter jets, and a military parade in Washington D.C.
As many as 220 Republicans and 131 Democrats backed the House's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year of 2019, while seven Republicans and 59 Democrats voted against it.
"This bill invests in training, this bill invests in equipment, it grows the size of all branches of our military and it prioritizes missile defense in our nuclear deterrent," said U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.
"The key focus of this bill is restoring readiness to ensure that when our men and women in uniform go out on mission, they have the best equipment, the best training and the best support our nation can provide," said Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
The House NDAA includes 617 billion dollars in base spending, 69 billion dollars for the Overseas Contingency Operations war fund and 22 billion dollars for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department, said a local news daily report.
The bill would provide a 2.6-percent pay raise for nearly 16,000 additional active-duty troops, the highest raise in nine years, and extend special pay and bonuses for service members in high-demand fields.
It would also authorize more than 25 billion dollars for equipment maintenance, three more Navy ships than requested by the Navy, 77 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and the upgrade of thousands of vehicles.
The bill also includes an authorized 39 billion dollars for military aviation upgrades after a series of deadly military aircraft incidents in the past year.
The House NDAA also endorses a military parade with the focus on the country's veterans, placing some restrictions on which hardware can be put on parade.
Following his visit to Paris last summer, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Pentagon to design a military parade in Washington D.C. with warplanes, hulking vehicles and marching uniformed service members.
The final version of the NDAA will be a compromise reached by House and Senate negotiators between separate versions of the bill approved in the two chambers. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its own version of the defense authorization bill later on Thursday.
