WASHINGTON — The Senate passed the annual defense bill Thursday with major funding secured for Arizona's military bases.
The National Defense Authorizations Act will provide more than $132 million for the A-10 at Davis-Monthan. Part of that money will go toward re-winging the A-10s. Another $114 million will fund the EC-130 Compass Call mission at the base.
The bill will also protect Fort Huachuca's unmanned aircraft system training missions, which is the only way the army can train.
Another big part of the bill addresses sexual assault in the military. Sen. Martha McSally has been pushing for legislation after she revealed she was raped by an officer while serving.
"I led the fight to address sexual assault in the military, and 17 of 18 provisions in my bill made it into this final bill," McSally said after the bill passed Thursday.
Securing the funding for Arizona's military bases was a bipartisan effort for Arizona -- both McSally and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema voted to approve the funds.
