On Wednesday, the US Senate passed the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 with broad bipartisan support in a 89-10 vote. The House passed the bill Dec. 7 by a margin of 363 to 70. The NDAA is now headed to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
The NDAA authorizes $740 billion for the Defense Department in fiscal year 2022, about $25 billion more than what the Biden administration requested.
Among other spending, the bill provides for $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including the supply of $75 million for deadly weapons. $4-billion European defense portion of the budget also holds $175 million for the Baltic Security Initiative.
The document states that since 2018, the United States has provided a total of nearly $500 million in security assistance to the Baltic states, including air defense, situational awareness at sea, acquisition of ammunition, anti-tank capabilities, development of special units and other purposes.
"It is the sense of Congress that the security of the Baltic region is crucial to the security of the NATO alliance and these efforts are critical to ensure
continued deterrence against Russian aggression and bolster allied security", the bill said.
