The House Armed Services Committee passed H.R. 4310, its version of the Fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, on May 10, providing $554 billion for base national defense activities and $88.5 billion for overseas contingency operations. The full House is expected to vote on the bill next week, according to a statement from HASC Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). “I’m proud that our members consistently put aside personal politics to fulfill that sacred obligation to our armed forces,” said McKeon. He said the committee provided “nearly $4 billion more” than the Pentagon’s budget request. Among its provisions, the bill preserves funds for C-27J and C-130 transports that the Air Force wanted to retire, and it retains in service the RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 remotely piloted aircraft that the Air Force wanted to place in storage. It also nixes proposed cuts to A-10s and F-16s that were “slated for premature divestment prior to the forecasted service-life end of each aircraft,” states McKeon’s release. The bill also authorizes a 1.7 percent military pay increase.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.