Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (Ala.-05) announced today that the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Fiscal Year 2007 National Defense Authorization Bill.  This bill authorizes $512.9 billion for the Department of Defense and its programs.  This amount is $2.7 billion more than the Administration's request and includes $50 billion to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and $9.3 billion for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

During House consideration of the bill, Representative Cramer spoke on the House floor against an amendment that would have cut MDA's budget by nearly fifty percent.  The amendment was defeated by a vote of 124 to 301.  Cramer said after the vote, "Now is not the time the time to reduce MDA's budget.  Doing so would devastate or stop several key missile defense programs we need to defend against the ballistic missile threat.  We need to allow MDA to continue its work."

The 2007 National Defense Authorization bill includes a 2.7 percent pay increase for military personnel and extends certain special pay and bonuses for reserve personnel.  Today's legislation also extends discounted health benefits under the military's Tricare health network to almost all reservists.  It rejects the Administration's plan to raise certain fees and deductibles for military retirees under 65.

The bill also authorizes funding for increased protection for troops in Iraq, including $1.4 billion for up-armored Humvees for the Army, $341 million for Army night-vision devices, and $110 million for improvised explosive device (IED) jammers.  The FY 2007 Defense Authorization bill also maintains funding for Future Combat Systems at $3.4 billion.