US Congress Releases Its $738 Billion Military Affairs Budget

By Staff, Agencies

The Armed Services Committees of the US Senate and the House of Representatives reached an agreement on Monday to finance the country's military spending for the 2020 fiscal year in the amount of $738 billion, a statement published by the committees said.

"The Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act fulfils one of Congress’ most important constitutional duties: to provide for the common defense. This bipartisan, bicameral agreement puts our troops and America’s security first by continuing to rebuild our military, positioning our Armed Forces to meet the next wave of threats outlined in the National ‘Defense’ Strategy", the statement said.

The new budget shows a 3% increase from the $716-billion budget, approved for the 2019 fiscal year.

"This conference report supports a discretionary topline of $738 billion, consistent with the recent bipartisan budget agreement. This includes $71.5 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations funding. In addition, the report authorizes $5.3 billion in emergency disaster recovery to help military installations across the country from extreme weather and natural disasters", the statement said.

The project of the military budget provides a series of measures to deter US strategic competitors.

"The National Defense Strategy [NDS] recognizes that we are in an era of major power competition with Russia and China. As our competitors seek to undermine international order and gain influence, the FY20 NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] includes measures designed to maintain America's competitive military edge and support our allies and partners," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the project of the military budget provides a series of measures to deter US strategic competitors; these include a new reporting requirement for the US War Secretary “on the implementation of the NDS focused on joint operational concepts to deter and defeat strategic competitors. The Pentagon must also report on strategies to impose political, military, economic, budgetary, and technology costs on Russia and China," the statement said.

Last month, a White House spokesman told journalists at a press briefing that the United States thinks all NATO members should increase their military spending to 2% of GDP by 2024. President Trump wants NATO to be strong and capable of withstanding dangers and future challenges, the spokesman said.