U.S. House passes 690-billion-dollar defense bill
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The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a 690-billion-dollar bill to fund the Pentagon in the next fiscal year.
By a vote of 322 to 96, lawmakers approved the budget plan which meets the Pentagon's request for 119 billion dollars to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The budget blueprint also places restrictions on President Barack Obama's authority to reduce the country's nuclear stockpile. It prevents the administration from tapping public funds to reduce any nuclear warheads in accordance with the new treaty between the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals, unless it can provide plans to modernize the remaining arsenal.
The bill also prevents the administration from bringing terrorist suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the U.S. soil for trial.
Lawmakers in the lower chamber also voted overwhelmingly to pass an amendment to the defense bill, which bars the Obama administration from sending ground troops to Libya.
The House bill must be reconciled with a Senate version, which has yet to be crafted.
