Congress counters Russia and China in 2022 defense bill

The U.S. Congress approved an effort to push back against Russia and China in the annual defense bill published on Tuesday.

The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes $770 billion for military spending. This year’s budget is $25 billion more than President Joe Biden requested and 5 percent more than last year.

The bipartisan bill includes buying aircrafts and Navy ships to send signals to Russia and China. The NDAA includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, $4 billion for the European Defense Initiative, which aims to deter Russian aggression in Europe, and $150 million for Baltic security cooperation.

The bill was released after U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held virtual talks.

The NDAA also includes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which focuses on countering Chinese aggression, and a statement of support for the defense of Taiwan.

Some proposals were excluded from the bill including sanctions against Russia over the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a plan to subject women to a military draft, and an amendment that would ban Americans from purchasing Russian sovereign debt.

The NDAA must be approved by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Biden.