Senate committee to take up FY-20 defense bill in May; House to follow in June

By Tony Bertuca / April 9, 2019 at 2:44 PM

Senate Armed Services Committee panels will begin closed-session consideration of the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill May 19, with a final, closed mark-up scheduled for May 22, according to a statement from the committee.

Meanwhile, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said today his panel would likely mark up its version of the bill in June.

Unlike the Senate, the House committee's mark-ups are always open to the public.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said in a statement that lawmakers have their "work cut out" for them.

"Facing increasingly complex threats to our national security, our military leaders have called for timely resources to provide stability, predictability and continuity for our national defense," he said. "Passing the defense authorization bill is the next step to getting our men and women in uniform those resources and tools, and I am eager to get the process started next month."

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