Senate Unanimously Votes to Pass Defense Spending Bill

Funding will go towards military and weapons

After five days of debate, the Senate unanimously voted 98-0 on Tuesday to approve a defense bill. The bill authorizes $631.4 billion in funding for the military, the war in Afghanistan and nuclear weapons. It must be reconciled with the version passed by the House of Representatives before it can go to President Obama to be signed into law. There are several key differences between the House and Senate bills. The Senate bill includes a permanent ban on transferring detainees from the Guantanamo prison camp on Cuba to the United States, and prohibitions on the military detention of U.S. citizens. Top Republican on the committee, Senator John McCain, said he was confident that the House and Senate would be able to resolve the differences between the two bills. (Reuters)

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