President Biden has signed a record-breaking US defense policy bill that authorises $886bn in annual military spending including $300m in assistance for Ukraine.
“The Act provides the critical authorities we need to build the military required to deter future conflicts, while supporting service members and their spouses and families who carry out that mission every day,” Biden said on Friday evening.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed Congress last week with the Democratic-controlled Senate approving it with a strong bipartisan majority of 87 to 13.
The House of Representatives voted in favor 310 to 118.
The bill covers everything required by the vast US military from pay rises for service members to the purchasing of warships.
The record-breaking figure of $886bn is a 3 percent increase on last year’s budget.
The bill includes the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative authorizing $300m to assist Kyiv, a small figure compared to the $61bn that Biden had asked Congress to approve to help Ukraine fight Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Republicans previously refused to approve the larger amount without Democrats agreeing to a significant toughening of border and immigration law.
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