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Defense bill, pay raise to become law Wednesday

President Barack Obama will sign the $681 billion defense policy bill on Wednesday, ending concerns over a possible veto because the bill authorizes an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, which the administration opposes.

A White House announcement says that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and key members of Congress will be on hand to watch as Obama signs his first defense budget into law.

The 2010 defense authorization bill that Obama will sign includes a 3.4 percent pay raise for all service members, as part of a $164 billion military personnel budget.

Among some of the personnel-related provisions, the bill authorizes a temporary increase of 30,000 soldiers for the Army, creates a new payment for the caregivers of catastrophically injured service members who need an attendant so they are not hospitalized or institutionalized, and extends eligibility for Tricare Standard health insurance to reserve component “gray area” retirees who have not yet reached age 60.

The bill includes $250 million for research and acquisition of an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, something senior defense officials said is unneeded.

While Obama will sign the bill that authorizes the alternate engine, a veto threat still hangs over the separate defense appropriations bill, still pending before Congress, if it provides funding for the additional engine.

House and Senate negotiators are trying to work out differences on the defense funding bill, with the veto threat one of the many issues they must address.