The House voted Thursday to pass a $716 billion defense policy bill that includes a raft of military initiatives aimed at countering growing threats from Russia.
The Pentagon would see a hike in authorized funding for its NATO operations in Europe and develop a new, smaller nuclear warhead under the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The massive bill, passed on a 359-54 vote, also provides more arms to Ukraine as it fights Russia-backed rebels and gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis potential waivers to wean friendly countries off Russian dependence.
Now, the NDAA goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass easily next week before heading to President Trump’s desk. The new Russia policies come as the president is seeking to thaw relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is still drawing criticism for a summit in Helsinki where he blamed the U.S. for poor relations.
[Related: ‘Shameful’: Senate Republicans blast Trump after he blamed US for soured Russian relationship]
Congress’ armed services committees sought to counter Russia with the military initiatives in the NDAA after the Pentagon released its new strategy this year naming it as a top adversary.
“It advances implementation of the new national defense strategy so we can be better prepared against threats from peer or near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the House Armed Services Committee chairman. “In fact, there are many, many provisions in this bill … directly related to countering the aggressive actions we have seen from each of those countries.”
The bill hikes spending for military deterrence in Europe to provide Army tanks and armored brigades, and a bigger presence in the east, where countries fear Russian aggression. It also provides $200 million for more lethal aid to Ukraine such as the anti-tank Javelin missiles that the U.S. first supplied this year.
“It was under the previous administration where we refused to arm the Ukrainians, now we are doing that. This administration is doing that,” said Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The NDAA also grants the Pentagon’s request for a new nuclear warhead that could be launched from submarines and deter Russia from using its own smaller nukes, as well as Mattis’ request for sanctions waivers for countries such as India that want to buy U.S. arms, but are prohibited because they have done business with Moscow.
Despite the measures, the bill still sparked a fiery House floor debate over whether Congress is doing enough to punish Russia after the U.S. intelligence community concluded it interfered with the 2016 presidential election to help Trump.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., blasted the president for the Helsinki summit with Putin and urged new legislation to shore up the country against further election interference.
“He stood with a dictator over the national intelligence agencies. It was a disgrace and the majority did nothing,” McGovern said. “Russia is not our ally, they are not a competitor, they are not our friends, and we need to start acting like that.”
