The House appropriators working on 2007 funding for Veterans Affairs and military construction would provide nearly a billion less than the Administration’s 2007 request. According to the House Appropriations Committee markup, the panel would fund about $100 million less for Veterans medical services but support an overall 6.3 percent increase to offset the “spike in veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The markup provides a total of $10.6 billion for military construction and $21 billion for the defense health program.
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.