The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee completed its markup of the fiscal 2020 Defense appropriations bill Tuesday approving by voice vote a draft $694.9 billion spending measure, CQ.com reported.
Earlier this year the White House had proposed about $698 billion in its FY 2020 budget request, slightly more than Tuesday’s approved markup, and in July the House proposed slightly less at $690.2 billion for defense spending next year.
“It provides strong support for our men and women in uniform,” said Subcommittee Chairman and Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), in a statement.
There were no amendments to the markup, but Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) promised to offer amendments when the full Appropriations Committee takes up the measure on Thursday, according to the report.
The bill, which adheres to July’s bipartisan budget agreement negotiated between the White House and the Democrat-led House leadership, would represent a roughly 3% increase over fiscal 2019 spending.
The bill includes $622.5 billion in base budget funding, $70.6 billion for overseas operations and $1.7 billion in emergency disaster relief funding according to a summary.
The disaster relief funding would go toward repairs of military facilities damaged in Hurricanes Michael and Florence which struck the southeastern coast last year.
The measure would also support a 3.1% pay raise for military personnel and 2.6% hike in civilian pay that the administration requested.
Highlights of the Senate draft FY 2020 defense appropriations bill are available here.
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