US Senate approves $886 bn for defence spending with $11.5 China Threa

Washington/Beijing: The US Senate has approved a total defence expenditure of $886 billion with additional provisions to deter China’s threat. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer justified the bill, saying the approval given to the defence spending bill was important for strengthening the group standing against Russia and standing firm against China’s communist regime as well as for keeping the US defence forces ready. This bill also proposes to increase the salary of US soldiers by more than five percent.

For the last few days, there has been a brawl in the US Congress regarding the defence assistance being provided to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The Republican Party, while approving this aid, has made an aggressive demand to include provisions related to US border security in it. However, President Biden and some members of the Democratic Party have strongly opposed it. As a result, Ukraine’s defence aid is in limbo, and this has caused a major blow to the Ukrainian security forces. This issue has not been resolved despite the Ukrainian President’s visit to the US.

Against this background, the US Senate’s approval of the bill providing the defence expenditure for 2024 by 87 to 13 votes is noteworthy. This provision of $886 billion has become the largest provision made for defence spending in the history of the US. Sources have claimed that the proposal to give 11.5 billion dollars from this budget is important to stop the threat from China.

Various agencies, from the US Defense Department to intelligence agencies, have presented reports that we are completely unprepared to counter China and Russia. Current and former US officials have expressed concern that Russia and China have left the US behind in the technology of nuclear weapons, submarines, warships and hypersonic missiles. For this reason, the US needs to prioritize making independent provisions while keeping China in mind.

Also, the 5.2 percent increase in the salary of US security forces draws much attention. The US has increased the salary of its soldiers after two decades. In the last few months, there were reports of insufficient manpower available for various departments of the US security forces. The salary increase against this background will likely prove important in attracting American youth towards defence services.

Apart from this, there is also a provision in this bill to extend by four months the deadline of Section 702 of the ‘Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’ (FISA), which gives the US investigative agency the power to patrol foreign countries.

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