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Obama signs defense bill

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-29 04:27

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a 680-billion-U.S.-dollar defense authorization bill, and said that there is still too much waste in overall Pentagon spending.

"As Commander-in-Chief, I will always do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe, to defend this nation. And that's why this bill provides for the best military in the history of the world," he said as he signed the bill during a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden.

While saying the bill, first of such bills signed by him, " eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense process," the president said it is not perfect.

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"This bill is an important step forward, but it's just a first step. There's still more waste we need to cut," he added.

Obama praised the terminations of the VH-71 presidential helicopter and the F-22 fighter jet programs, as well as the " massively over-budget" Future Combat Systems, the Airborne Laser and the Combat Search and Rescue helicopter.

But the president didn't get all the cuts he wanted from the bill.

He had threatened to veto the legislation only if funding for an additional engine for F-35 fighter jet is included. But the Congress approved that funding in the bill he signed.

The law also marks a transition of focus in defense spending from conventional warfare to small conflicts.

Under the bill, big-ticket programs for conventional wars were terminated while programs designed to fight small wars get more funding, including the mine-resistant vehicles, unmanned aircraft and littoral combat ships.

Among the total funds authorized by the law, 550 billion dollars will go to the Pentagon and the national security programs of the Department of Energy, while the rest 130 billion dollars will be used to support war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Afghan war funding includes 7.5 billion dollars to train and equip Afghan forces and a program to pay Taliban fighters who renounce insurgency.

The bill also includes the controversial Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard bill, referring to a Wyoming teen murdered in 1998 because he was a homosexual.

The act provides additional support for local law enforcement and prosecutors to try violent crimes that are motivated by the victim's religion, color, gender, or sexual orientation.