By JOHN T. BENNETT
House and Senate lawmakers have agreed on a final bill authorizing the Pentagon to spend $631 billion in 2013, while also limiting DoD’s ability to deploy military spies and enter the biofuels industry. The bill stops short of mandating a new U.S.-based missile shield, and green-lights new multiyear contracts
The legislation, which could be sent to the president this week, also stops short of allowing DoD to spend funds to construct a GOP-proposed East Coast missile shield. The compromise bill authorizes the Pentagon to enter into multiyear procurement deals on several programs, including for Army CH-47 helicopters, Navy DDG-51 destroyers and V-22 tiltrotor aircraft.
Leaders and members from the House and Senate Armed Services committees agreed Dec. 18 on a compromise version of the 2013 defense authorization act that clears the Pentagon to spend $552.2 billion in base budget monies and another $88.5 billion on ongoing global wars and other operations.
The total amount is $1.7 billion above the Obama administration’s 2013 Pentagon budget request, which arrived on Capitol Hill earlier this year.
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