House Approves Vet, MilCon Bill: The full House has approved the 2007 Military Construction, Military Quality of Life, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, raising VA funding by nearly 12 percent more than the amount enacted for 2006. Overall, the House version of the bill at $94.7 billion is about $80 million shy of the Administration’s request of $95.5 billion. The House would increase funding for the care of veterans returning from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq by 6.3 percent.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.