[The Epoch Times, 20 dicembre 2022](Full report by Epoch Times reporter Li Xin) United StatesCongressA global spending bill worth approximately $1.7 trillion was announced on Tuesday (December 20) to provide the federal government with operating funds through the end of the current fiscal year at the end of next September. The bill, the result of bipartisan negotiations in Congress, included a recordmilitary spending。
The omnibus budget bill released on Tuesday includedCongressAll 12 annual appropriations bills that need to be passed, providing an increase in total appropriations over the previous fiscal year, will be released in the fiscal year ending September 30 of next year.Fiscal year 2023The remainder of the year provides the federal government with $858 billion for military spending and more than $772 billion for non-defense programs.
Lawmakers hope to approve the 4,155-page funding package this week and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature, avoiding a partial government shutdown after midnight next Friday.
The total funding provided by the bill is more than the approximately $1.5 trillion allocated the previous year.
This year’s spending account delivers a recordmilitary spendinghigher than last year’s $740 billion and even higher than Biden’s request.
The bill includes $44.9 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine and NATO allies to continue supporting Ukraine’s ongoing war against Russia.
The new bill would raise pay for members of the military by 4.6% and increase health care spending by $119 billion, or 22%, for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The bill would also provide $40.6 billion to help communities across the United States recover from droughts, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
The bill also bans the download of TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by a Chinese company, on smartphones and other government-issued devices, extending a ban currently enforced by the Pentagon and some other US agencies to all government devices.
In addition, the organic bill also includes an electoral reform plan, namely through the “Electoral Count Act” (Electoral Count Act) to clarify the role of Congress in the certification of presidential election results, clarifying that the vice president has only the right to certify electoral votes ceremonial role. The provision is aimed at avoiding a repetition of the events that hit Congress on January 6, 2021.
The bill was the culmination of weeks of negotiations between leaders of both parties in Congress, with Democrats ultimately agreeing to a larger increase in funding for defense than non-defense programs, a sign of the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell The request made by other Republicans as a condition of passing an omnibus budget bill later this year rather than a temporary spending bill that would delay budget decisions for the rest of the fiscal year until 2023, when the Republicans formally after taking control of the House of Representatives.
“Through this bipartisan, bicameralOmnibus Appropriations ActIt is undoubtedly in the interest of the American people. “This is the product of months of hard work and compromise,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Tuesday. “
McConnell also said the newly announced spending bill was also a victory for Republicans, even though many party members are expected to vote against it. Republicans have managed to increase defense spending beyond Biden’s requests, while also reducing some domestic spending that was on the Democratic president’s priority list, he said.
“Congress is rejecting the Biden administration’s view and doing the exact opposite,” he said.
But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wants to delay passage of the omnibus spending bill until Republicans take control of the House in the next Congress.
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#
