Smith's "chairman's mark" of the House's annual defense policy bill includes a $1 billion pandemic preparedness and resilience national security fund. Smith's legislation, which the House Armed Services Committee will debate and vote on next week, includes authorizing $200 million to help small businesses in the defense industrial base, $50 million for research "to rapidly produce medical countermeasures against novel threats" and $750 million for research related to pandemic preparedness, according to a copy of the legislation.The news comes as the number of coronavirus cases in the US continues to rise at an alarming rate. Texas, California and Florida — the three-most populous states in the country — set records for new daily cases amid fears of "apocalyptic" surges in major Texas cities.Smith's version of the National Defense Authorization Act does not include any provisions dealing with racial injustices in the military or the naming of military bases after Confederate leaders, two issues that will likely be a focus of amendments offered during next week's committee debate. Committee aides said that Smith, a Washington Democrat, wanted to allow committee members to weigh in on the naming of bases after Confederate leaders, and the panel expects amendments from both sides to address the issue during committee debate.The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren to remove Confederate names from military bases during its debate of the defense policy bill, which the Senate will debate on the floor next weRead More – Source
Smith's "chairman's mark" of the House's annual defense policy bill includes a $1 billion pandemic preparedness and resilience national security fund. Smith's legislation, which the House Armed Services Committee will debate and vote on next week, includes authorizing $200 million to help small businesses in the defense industrial base, $50 million for research "to rapidly produce medical countermeasures against novel threats" and $750 million for research related to pandemic preparedness, according to a copy of the legislation.The news comes as the number of coronavirus cases in the US continues to rise at an alarming rate. Texas, California and Florida — the three-most populous states in the country — set records for new daily cases amid fears of "apocalyptic" surges in major Texas cities.Smith's version of the National Defense Authorization Act does not include any provisions dealing with racial injustices in the military or the naming of military bases after Confederate leaders, two issues that will likely be a focus of amendments offered during next week's committee debate. Committee aides said that Smith, a Washington Democrat, wanted to allow committee members to weigh in on the naming of bases after Confederate leaders, and the panel expects amendments from both sides to address the issue during committee debate.The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren to remove Confederate names from military bases during its debate of the defense policy bill, which the Senate will debate on the floor next weRead More – Source
