By a 382-31 vote, the House today passed a $310 billion defense authorization bill that boosts military spending by $4.5 billion, bolsters numerous modernization and readiness-related accounts and increases military pay. Rep. Floyd Spence (R-SC), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a floor statement today that the bill was a "bipartisan effort from start to finish." "This legislation represents the sixth year in a row that Congress has increased the level of defense spending requested by the...