WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and "interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.” He said it also undermines the all-volunteer military's ability to recruit and retain talent.
“No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our nation,” the president said in a statement.
The Senate forwarded the bill to Biden after passing it last week by a vote of 85-14. In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted on adding the provision to ban transgender medical care for children. The legislation easily passed by a vote of 281-140.
Biden also objected to other language in the bill prohibiting the use of money earmarked to transfer detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to some foreign countries and into the United States. He urged Congress to lift those restrictions.
The annual defense authorization bill, which directs Pentagon policy, provides a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others.
The legislation also directs resources towards a more confrontational approach to China, including establishing a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way that the U.S. has backed Ukraine. It also invests in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and bolsters the U.S. production of ammunition.
The U.S. has also moved in recent years to ban the military from purchasing Chinese products, and the defense bill extended that with prohibitions on Chinese goods from garlic in military commissaries to drone technology.
The legislation still must be backed up with a spending package.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An Amsterdam District Court on Tuesday sentenced five men to up to six months in prison for violence that erupted around a UEFA Europa League football match between the Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in November.
The riots, which caused an international outcry and accusations of deliberate antisemitic attacks, left 5 people in hospital and 20 others with minor injuries. More than 60 people were detained.
The court on Tuesday sentenced one man to 6 months in prison, another to 2 1/2 months and two to 1 month in jail. A fifth defendant received 100 hours of community service.
A series of violent incidents took place between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soccer fans around the soccer match.
Some of the violence was condemned as antisemitic, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offering to evacuate Maccabi supporters. The violence, which garnered headlines worldwide, damaged Amsterdam’s reputation as a beacon of tolerance and a haven for persecuted religions, including Jews.
“It seems that the violence arose from strong pro-Palestine sentiments and dissatisfaction with the situation in Gaza, and related anger against the Israelis present,” the prosecutors’ office said in a statement at the conclusion of hearings two weeks ago.
The five defendants, who are all Dutch residents and aged between 19 and 32, were accused of public violence, theft and assault.
The Nov. 8 game was allowed to go ahead after the Netherlands’ counterterror watchdog found there was no “concrete threat” to Israeli fans, and the match wasn’t considered a high risk. Even so, Amsterdam authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Johan Cruyff Arena.
According to an investigation, the day before the game the authorities reported several incidents, including Israeli fans tearing a Palestinian flag from an Amsterdam building and attacking a taxi.
Six more suspects will have their trials at a later date, including three minors. Under Dutch rules, proceedings for juveniles are held behind closed doors. Police are continuing to investigate the violence and have released images of several suspects they want to identify.
Casert reported from Brussels
FILE - People welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans as they arrive at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, where Israeli soccer fans were attacked following a match between the Israeli club and Ajax Amsterdam, in Lod, Israel, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
FILE - In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro station leading them to the Ajax stadium, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision, file)
FILE - In this image taken from video, police stand guard as Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters light flares at the Dam square, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision, File)
