Defense Bill Gives Troops Pay Raise, Aids Rosecrans

The US House Friday passed a bipartisan defense bill that went beyond President Donald Trump’s requested increase. It passed by a vote of 344-81. It must now pass the Senate, which is working on its own version of the defense bill. The two bills must be reconciled and then sent to the President for his signature or veto. The total price tag is $696 billion, which is also beyond sequestration limits that were set in 2011.

Congressman Sam Graves, who voted for the bill, noted in a news release that the bill contains the biggest pay raise for soldiers in eight years, with a 2.4% increase. The bill would also allow the Pentagon to recruit new personnel and modernize the Air National Guard’s C-130H fleet. Rosecrans Airport, in St. Joseph, houses many of the nation’s C-130H planes.

In a separate release Friday, Senator Roy Blunt said that the Senate version, which passed unanimously out of committee, said that one priority was $10 million to Rosecrans to construct a communications facility there.

Increasing military spending had been one of President Trump’s main campaign promises on the trail last year. One of his favorite lines was, “We’re going to build a military so big, nobody’s going to mess with us.”