House Passes Defense Spending Bill

On June 20, the House approved, 340-73, the FY2015 Defense spending bill (H.R. 4870). The House Appropriations Committee passed the bill on June 10 (see The Source, 6/13/14).

The bill would provide $490.942 billion in discretionary funds for programs at the Department of Defense. This amount is $4.1 billion over the amount enacted in FY2014 and $199.825 million over the amount requested by President Obama for FY2015.

During consideration of the bill, the House approved the following amendments by voice vote:

• An amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to increase funding for the Defense Health Program by $5 million for breast cancer research; and
• An amendment by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) to prohibit funds from being used to implement Executive Order 13669 of June, 13, 2014, which would make admissible the previous sexual history of sexual assault victims during courts-martial.