WASHINGTON (AP) — The President joe biden signed into law on Monday defense bill The bill aims to counter China’s growing power and authorizes significant pay increases for non-commissioned officers, despite opposing reports of language deprivation of transgender medical care for children of military families. It pushes overall military spending to $895 billion.
Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets groups based on gender identity and “interferes with parents’ role in determining the best care for their children.” He said this also undermines the all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain talent.
“No military member should be forced to choose between their family’s access to health care and their mission to serve our nation.” the president said in a statement.
The Senate sent the bill to Biden after passing it by a vote of 85-14 last week. In the House of Representatives, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill following the Speaker’s remarks. mike johnson They advocated the addition of a clause banning transgender medical care to children. law easily passed by vote 281-140.
Biden also objected to other language in the bill that would prohibit the use of funds to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to some countries or the United States. He called on Congress to lift those restrictions.
The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which directs Pentagon policy, provides a 14.5 percent pay increase for junior enlisted personnel and a 4.5 percent pay increase for other service members.
The bill also directs resources toward a more confrontational approach. ChinaThat includes establishing a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way the United States has supported Ukraine. It is also investing in new military technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and boosting U.S. munitions production.
The United States has also moved in recent years to ban its military from purchasing Chinese products, with the defense bill expanding the ban on everything from garlic in military commissaries to drone technology.
The bill still needs to be backed by a spending package.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
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