Yesterday, Monday, September 18, the Senate passed a bill on defence policy, including an increase in budget in this area up to 700 billion dollars.
The budget exceeds the administration proposed trump, reports The New York Times.
The main initiator of the budget increase was Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Committee on armed forces.
Advocating for increased funding, McCain cited the example of a number of recent fatal accidents involving the military, including a collision last month of the tanker with destroyer. Recall, then, 10 American sailors were killed and several suffered serious injuries.
«We are gambling with the lives of the best among us, and now we see the price of this. Equipment, weapons become obsolete,» said the Senator.
700 billion dollars are planned to be allocated to the Pentagon, will include:
- 640 billion to buy new weapons and pay the military
- $ 60 billion on military missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other countries.
President Donald trump offered a more modest budget, although only slightly – 603 billion dollars for the U.S. military and $ 65 billion in foreign missions.
Note that the bill authorizes the amount of $ 500 million. for assistance (including weapons) to Ukraine; $ 100 million to help the Balkan peoples «to deter Russian aggression» and another $ 705 million for Israeli cooperative missile defense programs.
«The draft law authorizes the granting to our country of lethal weapons of a defensive nature. It also included provisions authorizing the use of funds in the US defense budget to rehabilitate in medical institutions of the United States wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
For the first time at the legislative level it is proposed to provide Ukraine the following defensive tools: radar air defense and surveillance of the surface situation; naval mine; the ships of coastal actions and coast guard,» he wrote on his page in Facebook the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
Now the bill must be signed by the President of the trump.
