Senate sends Biden defense bill named for Inhofe

The Senate gave final passage on Thursday to a defense bill named after Sen. Jim Inhofe that sets spending above President Joe Biden’s request, raises troop and civilian pay, ends the COVID-19 vaccination requirement and authorizes more than $350 million in projects at Oklahoma military bases.

The bill passed by a vote of 83-11 and now goes to the president for his signature.

The bill was named after Inhofe as a tribute to the Oklahoman’s long tenure and leadership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which writes the annual defense policy bill with its counterpart, the House Armed Services Committee. Inhofe has served as chairman of the committee and is currently the top Republican.

“It’s a real good bill,” Inhofe said in an interview. “I’m very happy with it.”

Inhofe, 88, is retiring in early January, after 28 years in the Senate.

The defense bill, finalized in a rush after the November elections, was packaged with another signature Inhofe product: a bill with water projects, including several for Oklahoma.

The annual defense bill sets policy for the military and authorizes troop levels and spending on pay, weapons systems and other Defense Department needs. Inhofe authored an amendment that led to a $45 billion increase in authorized spending above Biden’s request this year, with $19 billion of that intended to address high inflation. Last year, he authored the amendment that raised the authority by $25 billion. Both increases had broad bipartisan support on the armed services committees.

The bill’s topline is $847 billion for Defense Department programs; the actual spending must still be determined by the appropriations committees.

Inhofe, who has built up the missions and physical structures at Oklahoma’s five major military installations through the last three decades, secured authorization for more than $250 million at Tinker Air Force Base, in Oklahoma County, to build maintenance bays for the KC-46, the new refueling plane. He also secured authority for nearly $86 million for barracks at Fort Sill, the Army artillery training post by Lawton; $39 million for an ammunition demolition shop at the Army ammunition depot in McAlester; and nearly $5 million for a new gate at Altus Air Force Base.

Inhofe also got financial authority to reinforce the Armed Services committees’ position that the Air Force quickly replace the aged E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes with the E-7. Even before the planes have been ordered, Inhofe included $15 million in authority for planning an E-7 operations center at Tinker. The bill also includes $300 million to accelerate the acquisition of the E-7s.

The Air Force wants to retire 15 of the 27 E-3s at Tinker. The bill will allow the retirement of five immediately — ones that are being used mainly for parts — and another 10 when the Air Force presents an acquisition plan for E-7s. Two of those 10 must be used for training.

The bill authorizes a 4.6% pay raise for active-duty personnel and civilian Defense Department workers, and it eliminates the COVID-19 vaccination mandate that has been the subject of lawsuits in some states. Though most service members complied, some refused to get the shots and were discharged, at a time when the military is having trouble reaching its recruitment goals.

In an interview, Inhofe reiterated his oft-stated concerns that China’s military had made “pretty scary” advances and posed the most serious threat of his lifetime to U.S. security.

The bill includes several initiatives aimed at countering China, including provisions to fund all U.S. nuclear modernization programs and to continue the development of the nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile, according to Inhofe’s office.

In the year-end rush to clear legislation, leaders attached a water resources development bill to the defense bill. Several projects in northeastern Oklahoma are part of that bill, including one to save Bartlesville money on purchasing water and others to improve the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, a long-time priority for Inhofe.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Senate gives final passage to defense bill named for Jim Inhofe