On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) increasing the size of the Defense Department’s budget to almost $700 billion.
The Senate passed the NDAA, which increases the military budget to $696.1 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, an increase of 10 percent from the current budget and includes more than $140 billion to increase the pay and benefits of military personnel, on a 89 to 8 vote. Republican U.S. Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Democrats U.S. Sens. Kristen Gillibrand of New York, Pat Leahy of Vermont and Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon and independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against the NDAA. Three senators--including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.--did not vote. The Trump administration is supporting a larger Defense budget.
Rubio was touring Florida on Monday to asses the damage from Hurricane Irma. However, Rubio’s fingerprints were on the NDAA as he successfully added amendments to it requiring the Defense Department to report on how this year’s hurricanes have impacted military bases and equipment, making the Defense Department work with other part of the federal government to allow servicemembers more transfer credits for college and technical education and having the Pentagon report on training its cyber workforce.
“Hurricane Irma has inflicted significant damage to Florida’s communities and military installations alike,” Rubio said on Monday “My bipartisan amendment will provide Congress with the information it needs to ensure our national security assets and capabilities are fully repaired in the wake of these storms. Our military bases and assets in Florida are a key part of protecting America, so this measure is critical not only for our state, but also our nation.
“Another provision I offered will help us ensure our cyber force is properly equipped and trained for this emerging field of warfare,” Rubio added. “Cyber-related training and operations at Naval Air Station Pensacola Corry Station helps keep our country safe, and we must make sure this and other military training installations have adequate infrastructure to keep up with the increased threat.”
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., took to the Senate floor on Monday to support the NDAA. Nelson spent most of the speech offering his observations from his and Rubio’s tour of the Sunshine State to assess hurricane damage before turning his attention to the NDAA.
“We turn to this defense bill, this is an issue for national security,” Nelson said on the Senate floor. “As Secretary of Defense Mattis has said, and I quote, ‘Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today.’ Maybe we should pay attention to things like I’ve just described in Florida. Or maybe out in Texas, or what about tornadoes causing damages to military depots in Georgia, or what about the severe heat canceling military training and hailstorms damaging aircraft in Texas? What about the coastal erosion not only in Florida threatening early-warning radar in Alaska? What about the wildfires causing ranges to be closed and the flooding not only that we saw in Texas but flooding military logistics rail in Louisiana and warehouses in Virginia containing hazardous materials?
“And so that’s why in this version of the defense bill that we will pass today, there’s a provision in there that this senator had something to do with which calls for the Defense department to conduct a comprehensive assessment of threats to the training and readiness of our armed forces and the military infrastructure caused by climate-related events,” Nelson added. “It’s critical that we recognize the threat so we will ensure our forces and installations are resilient enough to withstand and quickly recover from all of these natural disasters that we’ve been talking about. Not only must we ensure that our military infrastructure is resilient, we must also ensure that it provides our war fighters with the space that they need to train and the technology they need to stay ahead of our adversaries.”
The House passed the NDAA in July on a 344 - 81 vote. Most House Republicans--227 of them--voted for the bill while 8 of them voted against it. Democrats were more split with 117 of them voting in favor of it while 73 opposed it. Every member of the Florida delegation backed the proposal except for U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who did not vote as he had a death in the family. Back in July, Bilirakis' office informed Sunshine State News that he would have voted for the NDAA had he been able to.
The Senate and the House will now confer on the NDAA.
READ MORE FROM SUNSHINE STATE NEWS
Trees and Power Lines: Has Coral Gables Been Entirely Honest with Its Citizens?
Irma Insurance Claims Already Near $2 Billion
