WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Thursday passed an $840 billion policy bill that would increase President Biden’s requested Pentagon budget by $37 billion, reflecting a growing bipartisan appetite in Congress to increase military spending amid renewed threats from Russia and China .
The legislation would provide a 4.6 percent pay raise to military personnel, limit the Biden administration’s ability to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, and require top national security agencies to report and crack down on the activities of white supremacists. race and neo-Nazis in federal law enforcement and the armed forces. While the measure drew broad bipartisan support, passing 329 to 101, Republicans unanimously opposed the mandate to eradicate white supremacy, arguing that such efforts were unnecessary.
The bill also contains provisions aimed at mitigating civilian deaths and injuries caused by US military operations and authorizing $100 million to assist Ukrainian military pilots. And it would repeal the 2002 law authorizing the invasion of Iraq, which was stretched by multiple administrations to justify military action around the world.
“We have a complex threat environment when you look at Russia, China and Iran,” said Congressman Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “The war in Ukraine is a devastating threat to peace, stability and democracy not only in Eastern Europe but around the world that we are working with partners to try to address. So we have to make sure we have a strong account.”
House Democrats initially proposed carrying through Mr. Biden’s requested military budget, but a bipartisan group on the Armed Services Committee overwhelmingly backed a measure by Representative Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, to increase the amount by roughly 4.6 the percentage.
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“One only has to look at world events in Ukraine, read reports about China’s plans and actions in the South China Sea, or simply read the latest headlines about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and North Korea’s missile tests, as well as ongoing terrorist threats, to see why this additional funding is necessary to meet the security challenges of our time,” said Mr. Golden.
By contrast, a multiyear effort led by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., to cut the Pentagon’s budget — this year by $100 billion — failed on Thursday in the House of Representatives, in a deafening show of bipartisan opposition, 350 of 78.
Also included in the military policy bill are a number of measures aimed at mitigating civilian deaths and injuries caused by U.S. military operations, following reports by The New York Times and others that indicated the U.S. air campaign against Islamic a country marked by deficient intelligence, confirmation bias and weak accountability.
The legislation would create a “commission on civilian casualties” made up of a dozen civilian experts appointed by Congress to investigate “a representative sample of incidents of civilian casualties that occurred when the United States used military force.”
Lawmakers also voted to add to the military policy bill an amendment that would require top national security agencies to report and crack down on the activities of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in federal law enforcement and the armed forces, in a vote that Republicans in the House of Representatives were unanimously opposed.
“Such extremism is a threat to us in all segments of society. There is no reason to believe that our military is any different,” said Congressman Brad Schneider, Democrat of Illinois and sponsor of the provision. He said cases of extremism in the United States armed forces “are rare, but we must do everything we can to identify and thwart them before the risks become a reality.”
Every Republican voted against it, but only one — Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona — publicly explained his opposition on the floor. He claimed the proposal “attempts to create a problem where none exists” and “denigrates our men and women in the service”.
“Any member of the military who has shown an interest or actual involvement in white racist or white nationalist groups faces discipline,” Mr Biggs said. “The appropriate branch either demoted the individual, fired him or otherwise disciplined the sympathizer.”
The vote came as the nation continues to grapple with the fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which involved dozens of current and former service members and sparked Pentagon efforts to remove extremism from the armed forces. In December, the Pentagon updated its anti-extremism rules, including tightening social media guidelines, changing the way it vets recruits and studying how to prevent retiring soldiers from being targeted by extremist organizations.
The House also approved a provision led by Representative Kathleen Rice, D-New York, that would require a review of national security agencies’ compliance with domestic terrorism reporting requirements already established by existing law. Only four Republicans supported it.
Ms. Rice said she introduced the legislation after the agencies provided “incomplete and insufficient information” in their first congressionally-authorized report on domestic terrorism, which was nearly a year late.
The vote was the latest indication of Republicans’ reluctance to address the issue of white nationalism and white supremacy, even though data shows such ideologies are fueling the growing threat of domestic violent extremism. The party has largely refused to punish lawmakers in its ranks who have aligned themselves with white nationalists, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom spoke at a white nationalist conference. Mr. Gosar was joined by conference leader Nick Fuentes.
It was unclear whether the white supremacy language, which passed by a vote of 218-208, would survive negotiations with the Senate over the must-pass bill. It would take at least some Republican support to muster the 60 votes needed to pass the measure through the evenly divided chamber.
In the House, lawmakers also voted to give the D.C. mayor the same authority over the D.C. National Guard that state and territory governors have over their National Guard, an attempt to address a situation that has left the D.C. mayor unable to quickly dispatched members of the Guard to the Capitol on January 6 when rioters attacked the building.
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