The US Senate overwhelmingly authorised $700bnin defence spending Monday, a substantial increase over 2017 funding and nearly 5% more than President Donald Trump had requested. The bill provides for $60bn in war funding known as Overseas Contingency Operations, and boosted military enlistment figures by 7,000. “It keeps faith with our men and women in uniform,” Republican John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said of the bill he shepherded through the chamber. Where is our sense of urgency to deal with this problem?”The $700bn is $91bn beyond the spending caps outlined in the 2011 Budget Control Act, which demanded a “sequestration” of military spending in order to rein in federal costs. McCain said it was imperative that Congress lift the spending caps on a bipartisan basis in order to fully fund military operations.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 19, 2017 15:11 UTC