US House Passes National Defense Authorization Act to Fund Pentagon in Fiscal Year 2022

© REUTERS / SARAH SILBIGERFILE PHOTO: The exterior of the U.S. Capitol is seen as Senators work to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill in Washington, U.S., August 8, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The exterior of the U.S. Capitol is seen as Senators work to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill in Washington, U.S., August 8, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger/File Photo - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.09.2021
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with which it appropriated funding for the Defense Department for Fiscal Year 2022 and implemented several policies, including imposing sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The bill, which establishes spending guidelines for the Pentagon's defense policies, cleared the chamber with a 316-113 vote.
The amendments considered in the funding package touch on a variety of issues ranging from sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and even the limiting the US military involvement in Syria in Yemen.
One of the adopted provisions include an end to logistical support to Saudi aircraft involved in conducting strikes against Houthis across Yemen. Similarly, another measure that was introduced by US Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) seeks to end US maintenance and sustainment of those Saudi aircraft.
Debates regarding the NDAA had been underway since Tuesday, and had seen the conservative House Freedom Caucus claim that the measures were providing the Biden administration a "blank check" following the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Thursday clearance in the House of Representatives was hailed by US Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who serves as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
“For 61 consecutive years, the House has proven that our collective commitment to U.S. national security can help us rise above partisanship. Instead of focusing on what divides us, each year we choose to pass a defense bill that fulfills Congress’ constitutional obligation to ‘provide for the common defense’ – and we do so by focusing on what we have in common as Americans," Smith said in a statement.
"The NDAA represents the legislative process at its best. This year, like every year, we worked for months to identify policies where we agree, and where we don’t, and engaged in thorough, thoughtful debate on all of them. In an era where our politics is so dominated by divisiveness, it has never mattered more to show the American people that democracy still works."
Smith went on to describe the NDAA as one that will provide "transformational policy changes with direct benefits for our service members and their families."
Although the passage sets the stage for the $768 billion measure to be enacted into law, the bill still needs to go through the US Senate, with the two congressional chambers later working to iron out the details in their respective versions of the bill.
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