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| The U.S. Senate voted on December 15, 2022, to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023, and the bill will then be sent to the White House for signature by the president. (Screenshot of the live video of the hospital) |
CAPITOL HILL — The U.S. Senate passed the defense spending bill for the new fiscal year on Thursday (December 15) evening, and the bill will then be sent to the White House for signature by the president. Lawmakers said the bill would provide the Pentagon with vital resources to further provide U.S. military capabilities. The bill also plans to strengthen Taiwan’s defense capabilities against Chinese threats, including $10 billion in military aid over five years.
The final coordinated version of the nearly $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023 passed Thursday night by a landslide vote of 83 in favor and 11 against. The bill authorizes an increase of $45 billion over President Biden’s proposed budget earlier this year.
The bill was supported by the House last week, and it will be sent to the White House to await President Biden’s signature.
Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Jack Reed, D-RI, called the bill “the most significant vote of the year” after months of bipartisan bipartisan bipartisan passage.
“I’ve said before, and I’m not the only one saying that, that the world is in the most dangerous place I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Senator Reid of Rhode Island, stressing the importance of passing this defense spending authorization bill.
The bill contains a number of provisions designed to strengthen the U.S. military’s air power, land defense, and cybersecurity.
The bill plans to provide $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine to help it resist the Russian invasion. The bill also allocates $6 billion to the Europe Deterrence Initiative, which was established in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea to improve the preparedness of U.S. forces in Europe to deter further Russian aggression.
In the Indo-Pacific, the bill would also inject $11.5 billion into the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to strengthen the program’s operations and enhance U.S. military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
Speaking Thursday morning at the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) emphasized that the National Defense Authorization Act will play a key role in U.S. military strength and presence in the Indo-Pacific. He said the bill would also greatly strengthen U.S. cooperation with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
“China is actively undermining U.S. interests and partnerships everywhere, from Asia to the Middle East to Africa and beyond. This National Defense Authorization Act will strengthen us. This prioritizes key partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. McConnell said.
“Counterbalancing the CCP will require a coordinated effort of stronger and deeper ties between the United States and our like-minded friends and partners,” he continued, “and that means everything, from the entry and exit of military bases; joint exercises and operations; Strengthen our own defense industrial base so that we can continue to achieve win-win security and economic benefits by selling the defense capabilities they need to our partners. ”
The U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023 on Thursday. Lawmakers said the $858 billion bill would provide the Pentagon with resources to further enhance the U.S. military. Earlier in the same day, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the bill would strengthen the U.S. military’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region and strengthen cooperation with partners and allies. The House passed the bill last week and will next send it to the president to sign into force.
Provide 10 billion yuan in military assistance to Taiwan over five years
The new year’s National Defense Authorization Act includes military aid to Taiwan, which has attracted much attention.
The bill incorporates Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senb Menendez. Bob Menendez, D-NJ) proposed the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act (TERA). The core content of the bill is based on the provisions of the Taiwan Policy Act, which passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Taiwan’s security and defense. The Taiwan Policy Act was written by Menendez and Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham, R-SC) was introduced bipartisanly in June and passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September.
The Taiwan Resilience Enhancement Act in the National Defense Authorization Act would significantly strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan defense partnership by developing a specific defense modernization plan for Taiwan for the first time. The bill would authorize the United States to provide $2 billion a year in unreimbursable military assistance to Taiwan through the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program from 2023 to 2027, with a total of $10 billion over five years.
The bill also authorizes direct foreign military financing loans of up to $2 billion to Taiwan.
The bill also authorizes the president to use the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to withdraw up to $1 billion worth of defense equipment or services from the Department of Defense to Taiwan each year. “Presidential Withdrawal Authorization” means an authorization that allows the President of the United States to expeditiously provide defense articles and services to foreign international organizations from the inventory of Department of Defense equipment without congressional approval.
As China’s aggressive military operations in the Taiwan Strait have rapidly raised concerns about the regional security situation, bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for providing Taiwan defense assistance to strengthen its self-defense capabilities has also grown in response to the military threat from China.
Meyndez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen Risch, the chief Republican. Jim Risch, R-ID) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks. Gregory Meeks, D-NY) and Rep. Michael McCaul, a leading Republican. Michael McCaul, R-TX) and other bipartisan foreign affairs leaders sent a joint letter to congressional leadership on December 15 requesting at least $500 million in emergency “foreign military financing” assistance for Taiwan under ongoing negotiations on a comprehensive government appropriations bill.
Members are sending a message to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-CA), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s letter also said they were requesting $1 billion in emergency funding to supplement the capacity provided to Taiwan under the “President’s Draw Authorization” program under the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act (TERA).
“For Taiwan, ‘foreign military financing’ can help them restart and expand critical production lines to produce capabilities that are no longer used by the U.S. military but are important to our partners to further advance an asymmetric strategy against China,” lawmakers said in the joint letter.
The lawmakers also emphasized that the grants demonstrate the depth of U.S. commitment and help them secure permanent support to weather future conflicts.
In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023 also includes accelerating Taiwan’s arms procurement and developing training programs to enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities.
In the sense of the Congress section, Congress believes that conducting joint military exercises with Taiwan is an important part of improving combat readiness.
The National Defense Authorization Act is solely responsible for setting defense spending authorization programs, and the final amount of appropriation is legislated by the Appropriations Committee of Congress. Previously, it was reported that some Democratic Party lawmakers expressed concerns about providing such a large amount of military aid funds to Taiwan, so it is still unknown how much military aid the Appropriations Committee will finally approve for Taiwan.
Members of both houses of Congress are currently negotiating a government consolidated appropriations bill that will keep the government running until September 30 next year, and the resulting consolidated appropriations bill is expected to be put to a vote in both houses next week.
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