NDAA is law, $51M to Tinian divert

President Trump signed the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 on Monday authorizing $50.7 million for Air Force divert airfield projects on Tinian. $46 million will go towards construction of a cargo pad with taxiway extension and $4.7 million for a maintenance support facility north of the Tinian airport. Section 2863 bars any expenditure by the Defense Department for public infrastructure in the Marianas until an Economic Adjustment Committee reports to Congress on what civilian projects are needed to support proposed military activities. The report is due in May 2019. Only then would Congress decide whether to fund civilian infrastructure on Tinian or elsewhere. In all, the 2019 NDAA authorizes $717 billion for defense spending for fiscal 2019. It raises military pay by 2.6 percent and increases troop levels across the Armed Forces by about 16,000.