President Joe Biden On Monday, he signed a defense bill that allows big pay raises for junior enlisted men, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
Biden said that his administration strongly opposes this provision because it targets a group on the basis of… Sexual identity It “conflicts with parents’ roles in determining the best care for their children.” It also undermines the volunteer military's ability to recruit and retain talent, he said.
President Joe Biden signed the defense bill into law despite objections to the legislation. (AP Photo/Rod Lamke Jr.)
“No service member should have to decide between access to health care for their family and their calling to serve our nation,” the president said in a statement.
Senate He referred the bill to Biden after it passed last week by a vote of 85 to 14. In the House of Representatives, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding a clause prohibiting medical care for transgender children. The legislation passed easily by 281 votes to 140.
Biden also objected to other language in the bill that prohibits the use of funds allocated to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to certain foreign countries and to the United States. He urged Congress to lift these restrictions.
President Joe Biden signed a bill aimed at increasing military spending to $895 billion. (Photo by Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
The annual defense authorization bill directs Pentagon policy It provides a 14.5% pay increase for entry-level service members and a 4.5% raise for others.
The legislation also directs resources toward a more confrontational approach with China, including creating a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in the same way the United States has supported Ukraine. It is also investing in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and boosting US munitions production.
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The United States has also moved in recent years to impose the ban Army From buying Chinese products, the defense bill expanded that by banning Chinese goods from garlic in military commissariats to drone technology.
The legislation still must be supported by a spending package.
