No Inclusions in US Defense Bill 2024 for Somaliland
The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is one of the few major pieces of legislation Congress passes every year.
The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA governs everything from pay raises for the troops to purchases of ships and aircraft to policies as to USA’s military engagements in global security.
The Senate and House have to both approve the fiscal 2024 and send it to the White House for Biden to sign into law.
The Senate finally passed the nearly $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 late Wednesday December 13, 2023, with an 87 to 13 vote. More than two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a defense policy bill on Thursday December 14, 2023, by 310 to 118, with strong support from Republicans and Democrats. The House and Senate had each passed their own versions of the NDAA earlier this year.
This year’s bill, an annual measure that sets policy for the Department of Defense, authorizes a record $886 billion in spending, a 3% increase over last year.
The reconciled final version or the compromise version of the NDAA 2024 Bill was what passed by the Senate and the House on 13th and 14th of December 2023 respectively.
The bill now heads to the House, where it will go on to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature. On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the White House threw its weight behind the modified bill that was in the Senate chamber.
The final text of NDAA 2023-24 can be viewed by clicking this link. The page includes a wealth of information about the law, including the number of versions it has passed through, actions taken, the number of titles it contains, and approved and rejected amendments. It also clearly indicates the bill’s current status as pending for the president’s signature.
118th Congress’s (2023–2024) bills, resolutions, and amendments authored by Senator Jim Risch are collected on this website, which can be accessed by clicking this link.
You may view all of the actions that have been done on any amendment of his by clicking on the links for each bill, resolution, or an amendment.
Senator Risch introduced an amendment recorded as S.Amdt.821 on 7/18/2023 to be included under Title XII of NDAA 2023-24 that mainly dealing with matters relating to foreign nations. As of now, the status of this amendment remained pending, and it has never been voted on. To put it another way, absolutely nothing has been done on this amendment.
Neither the term “Somaliland” once nor the possibility of desiring the military base and its nearby airport at Berbera are included in the final version of the NDAA that is awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature.
For the last two weeks, a fake news on this subject has been making the rounds on social media among some wishful Somalilanders who don’t care about the veracity of the developing news or at least try to scan the credibility of the news source.
Unfortunately, the initial draft of the amendment introduced by Senator Risch in July of this year was interpreted as an additional provision for Somaliland in the NDAA 2024 Bill that the US Congress is attempting to approve.
Senator Risch succeeded in getting the US Somaliland Partnership Act included in the NDAA 2023, but this year he was unable to do so as in the past. The government of Somaliland and its people have great respect for him
The provision in the NDAA 2023 regarding the US Somaliland Partnership Act is still active and allows the two governments to work together. The United States’ interests and military cooperation in the Republic of Somaliland are clearly expressed in the text of the partnership act of last year’s NDAA 2023.
The Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, is a strategically important maritime choke point, and lawmakers in the United States firmly believe that it is necessary for US in safeguarding its national security interests to prevent Iran providing Yemen with lethal aid and promoting unrestricted trade.