The last-minute try by Maine Senators to have the Pentagon donate—free—the military facilities to be shuttered in Maine to the state’s local governments failed to catch fire. (DR, 11/09/05) Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and cohorts rushed an amendment to the 2006 defense authorization bill to the Senate floor, but lawmakers rejected it.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.