Printer-friendly
Send to e-mail
PDF versionA far-reaching defense bill that has mixed effects on Utah's defense industry and members of the military awaits the signature of President Obama.
The U.S. Senate cleared the defense authorization conference report, a House-Senate compromise measure, by a 68-29 vote Thursday and sent it to the president's desk.
Utah Sen. Bob Bennett voted against the bill, and Sen. Orrin Hatch did not vote on it.
The legislation is a mix of policy and spending priorities that are of financial interest to Northern Utah's largest employers, including Hill Air Force Base, the ATK companies and Utah's military personnel.
But the legislation also contains a landmark hate-crimes provision that generated Republican opposition, including from GOP members of Utah's delegation.
The $680 billion legislation gives Obama a few victories in his bid to kill some especially costly weapons systems, though it contains an effort by lawmakers to continue development -- over the president's strong objections -- of a costly alternative engine for the Pentagon's next- generation fighter jet, the F-35.
Most GOP House and Senate members have opposed the defense bill since the Democratic majority tacked on the social legislation.
The bill's additional measure would give federal protections to people attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender, and significantly expand the reach of hate-crimes law.
Bennett said he voted against the defense bill because of the add-on.
"It is unfortunate that the Democratic majority decided to use this defense bill as a vehicle to pass a partisan and unrelated provision to expand the definition of hate crimes," said Bennett, answering a question from the Standard-Examiner.
"I absolutely support funding our troops and providing them with the necessary resources they need to succeed, but I could not support the bill with the hate-crimes provision included," he said.
"Hate crimes should not go unpunished, but I am concerned that the provision passed by the Senate would create new, protected classes of people that would only further divide our nation and worsen the very problem such legislation tries to solve."
Others defended the bill.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay-rights group, hailed the bill as "our nation's first major piece of civil-rights legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Too many in our community have been devastated by hate violence."
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, voted against the defense conference bill when it was in the House, objecting to the military measure carrying social legislation.
The final defense bill did contain a provision co-written by Bishop that forces the Obama administration to study the drawdown effects of changing the Air Force aircraft fleet.
Bishop hopes this will slow down the planned elimination of one of the F-16 fighter squadrons at the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base.
The voluminous bill has many other components.
ATK Vice President Tom Van Leunen said the company's Clearfield branch does composite work for the F-35 and that ATK's missile defense contracts were being supported in the legislative process.
The bill also gives military personnel an above-inflation pay raise of 3.4 percent.
A second defense bill dealing with military appropriations, legislation that doles out the money, also is nearing its final stages of approval. The appropriations committees typically follow the policy trends outlined in the authorization bill.
Material from The Associated Press contributed to this article.
