With the vote of the majority of senators from both parties (87-13), the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes $886 billion of funding and will mark the Pentagon policy for next year. The final version of the bill did not include the anti-woke measures that several Republican legislators had requested.
This Senate passed the NDAA to:
—Give our service members a raise
—Ensure America can hold the line against the Russian government and deter aggression by the Chinese government
—Give DOD more resources to develop and deploy AINow we must pass @POTUS's national security bill
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 14, 2023
The measure also received the approval of the Lower House. 310 representatives from both parties voted in favor of the NDAA, while 118 legislators opposed it.
Measures to contain Russia and China
The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, stressed that the passage of the NDAA was key to "ensure America can hold the line against the Russian government and deter aggression by the Chinese government." In addition, the bill includes salary increases for service members and "gives the Department of Defense more resources to develop and deploy AI."
The NDAA approved the submarine agreement between the U.S., U.K. and Australia with the aim of maintaining a balance of power with China, especially in the Pacific region. According to Schumer, this measure "is a game changer. It will create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter the Chinese Government threat and influence in the Pacific."
With the Senate passage of the NDAA:
We’re approving President Biden’s US, UK, and Australia nuclear submarine agreement.
It's a game changer:
It will create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter the Chinese government’s threat and influence in the Pacific.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 14, 2023
