Defense Bill on Course for Passage

Apparently Congress is set to pass the final Defense appropriations bill in which there are provisions that will allow the US military to arrest and indefinitely detain US citizens, possibly even protesters.  According to CQ yesterday the only reservations on the spending bill have to do with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.  Time to ask Obama to make good on his veto threat.  For background on this issues go to this previous blog post


Defense Spending Bill on Course, but F-35 Plans Unresolved

by John M Donnelly, CQ Roll Call Staff

December 6, 2011

A final Defense appropriations bill for fiscal 2012 appears to be on course for vPublish Postotes in both chambers next week, aides say. The details haven't been settled, and of course the measure's fate will be tied to unrelated domestic issues as part of a massive spending bill that would fund multiple agencies. One of the Defense measure's unresolved issues is said to be the purchasing plan for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The behind-the-scenes congressional debate comes as the program's managers are having second thoughts about how quickly to procure additional planes while glitches continue to surface on test models. There are big implications in this F-35 debate — for both U.S. squadrons and U.S. budgets.

Defense Appropriations Votes Planned: The House and Senate will be ready to vote next week on a spending bill that would provide some $518 billion for "base" Pentagon programs and $118 billion for war initiatives. The final measure (HR2219) is all but complete, save for a few matters, aides said.

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