WASHINGTON — Despite his objections to language that excludes coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families, President Joe Biden signed a defense bill into law on Monday that authorizes significant pay increases for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China’s growing power, and increases overall military spending to $895 billion.
Biden stated that the provision is vehemently opposed by his administration because it interferes with parents’ involvement in deciding how best to care for their children and targets a group based on gender identity. Additionally, he argued, it makes it more difficult for the all-volunteer military to find and keep talent.
The president stated in a statement that no military member should have to choose between their call to serve our country and their family’s access to healthcare.
By a vote of 85-14 last Thursday, the Senate passed the bill and sent it to Biden. After House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on include a clause prohibiting transgender medical care for children, the majority of Democrats in the House voted against the bill. A vote of 281-140 overwhelmingly passed the proposal.
Biden also took issue with other provisions in the law that forbade the transportation of detainees from Guant namo Bay, Cuba, to certain foreign nations and back to the United States using funds designated for that purpose. He called on Congress to remove those limitations.
Pentagon policy is set by the annual defense authorization bill, which gives junior enlisted service members a salary boost of 14.5% and others a 4.5% raise.
Additionally, the bill allocates funds to a more aggressive strategy toward China, including the creation of a fund that might be used to provide Taiwan with military aid in a manner similar to how the United States has supported Ukraine. Additionally, it supports American munitions manufacture and makes investments in cutting-edge military technologies like artificial intelligence.
The defense bill added restrictions on Chinese items, ranging from drone technology to garlic in military commissaries, to the U.S.’s recent efforts to bar the military from buying Chinese goods.
A spending package still needs to support the measure.
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