US House approves $649 billion for defence in 2012

A $649 billion defence spending bill for next year easily passed the US House of Representatives on Friday after four days of debate in which war-weary lawmakers sought to curb President Barack Obama's combat operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
The measure, approved 336-87 in the Republican-dominated House, would raise the Pentagon's base budget for the 2012 fiscal year beginning on October 1 by about $17 billion over current levels, despite intense pressure to slash the $1.4 trillion US deficit. The House cut about $8 billion from Obama's overall defence spending request, voting to provide about $530 billion for the Pentagon's primary budget and another $119 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Obama asked for about $690 billion for military spending for 2012. This House bill does not include funds for US nuclear weapons programs or military construction, which come in other bills and add about $33 billion to defence spending. The House measure includes $5.9 billion to buy 32 Lockheed Martin's radar-evading F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, $15.1 billion to build 10 Navy ships and $3.3 billion for 28 Boeing F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets and 12 EA-18 Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
Congress is still weeks away from approving a final military spending bill ready for Obama to sign into law. The House bill will have to be melded with whatever measure is approved by the Senate, which is still working on its plan.
The House considered more than four dozen amendments over four days. Lawmakers seeking a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan and upset with Obama's decision to intervene in Libya's conflict repeatedly introduced measures trying to force a change in US war policies. They were largely unsuccessful. Efforts to revoke spending for combat operations in Afghanistan to hasten US troop withdrawals were voted down, and attempts to bar the Pentagon from using its funds to enforce the Nato-led no-fly zone over Libya fared no better.
Republican Representative Tom Cole narrowly won a ban on military spending to train or equip rebels fighting to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Cole, one of many lawmakers upset by Obama's failure to consult with Congress about intervening in Libya's conflict, hailed the vote as a reassertion of congressional authority to authorise and fund US wars. But Senator John McCain, a fellow Republican, criticised the House action, saying it sent the wrong message to Gaddafi and abandoned traditional Republican support for "those fighting for freedom and democracy."
In another sign of anger over Obama's handling of the Libya conflict, the House voted to bar the Pentagon from spending 2012 funds on anything that violates the War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to seek congressional authorisation within 60 days of committing US troops to hostilities.
"Libya is a war the House loves to hate but hates to stop," John Isaacs, director of the Council for a Livable World said in an analysis of the votes. "The upshot of this confused message: The president can continue to carry out a war in Libya with no hindrance from Congress and no compliance with the War Powers Act." Penny-conscious lawmakers concerned about the $1.4 trillion US deficit and $14.3 trillion debt sought to hasten the government's austerity drive by slicing money from Pentagon funding, but they fared little better than the war opponents.
Efforts to cut billion-dollar sums from various defence accounts were voted down. One of the most successful budget-cutting efforts was led by Representative Betty McCollum, a Democrat who doggedly pressed her drive to slash more than $120 million for military bands.
McCollum shepherded the cut through the Appropriations Committee, only to see it defeated on a voice vote in the full House. She introduced a last-minute amendment to reinstate the cuts and won by forcing a roll-call vote on Thursday evening, leaving the military with $200 million to spend on more than 200 bands with 4,600 musicians and staff.