{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cole.house.gov/oklahoman-us-house-sends-defense-bill-protecting-awacs-tinker-air-force-base", "The Oklahoman: U.S. House sends on defense bill protecting AWACS at Tinker Air Force Base", "2014-12-05", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Tom Cole", "C001053", "cole.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel\nThe U.S. House easily passed a $585 billion defense bill on Thursday that protects Tinker Air Force Base from some of the Pentagon\u2019s proposed cuts and promises more money for the huge maintenance depot there.\nThe bill passed 300-119, with all five of Oklahoma\u2019s U.S. House members in favor. It now heads to the U.S. Senate.\nSen. Jim Inhofe, of Tulsa, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, negotiated the final version of the bill and strongly supports it.\nBut Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, has vowed to use all procedural means at his disposal to stall final passage because of his objections to a package of federal land acquisitions that was added by top congressional leaders to the defense bill.\nStill, the measure, which sets Pentagon policy for the next year, is expected to clear before Congress leaves for Christmas.\nPay raises\nMost active duty troops would get a 1 percent pay raise under the legislation, though there are small cuts to commissary and housing subsidies.\nInhofe prevented the Pentagon from deactivating \u2014 at least for a year \u2014 seven of the 27 AWACS planes at Tinker and a Reserve unit associated with them.\nHe also inserted language pressing the Air Force to continue a C-130 modernization program managed by Boeing in Oklahoma City.\nAnd he helped boost the authorized funding for aircraft maintenance by $666 million, some of which should flow to the repair depot at Tinker.\nBill is praised\nRep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, whose district includes Tinker and Fort Sill, the U.S. Army post in Lawton, praised the legislation, saying that it shows bipartisan commitment \u201cto giving our military the resources they need both at home and abroad.\u201d\nCole, a key member of the panel that approves military spending, secured money in July to pay for the full fleet of AWACS, command-and-control planes that have been based at Tinker for decades.\nCole said the increase for aircraft maintenance addressed a critical need caused by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. The money was diverted from lower priority items, he said.\nThe final version did not include a provision Cole authored that would have shielded much of Tinker\u2019s civilian workforce from any future furlough. Many of those who maintain aircraft are paid out of a separate fund that is not dependent on annual congressional appropriations.\nLast year, Defense Department officials decided to make them part of the furlough caused by sequestration, despite the fact that it didn\u2019t save any money for them not to be working.\n\u201cSuch a practice only delays delivery times of aircraft and raises rates, costing the taxpayer and reducing military readiness,\u201d Cole said Thursday.\nOnline: The Oklahoman", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://cole.house.gov/oklahoman-us-house-sends-defense-bill-protecting-awacs-tinker-air-force-base"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4053708873689175, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}