The $491 billion defense measure passed by the House leaves the issue of where military women can serve in war zones in the Pentagon's hands -- as long as Congress gets notice of any changes beforehand. On a 390-39 vote Wednesday, the Republican-controlled chamber approved the bill that sets Defense Department policy and plans spending for next year. The Senate is to vote next month on its own defense bill, an early version of which does not address women's jobs in the military, The Associated Press reported. In the House bill, Republicans abandoned their effort to curb the role of women in combat zones after running into opposition from the Pentagon and lawmakers from both parties. Instead, the House approved on a 428-1 vote a watered-down provision that lets the Pentagon continue to determine military jobs for women as long as it gives Congress 60 days notice -- twice as much time as is currently required. Overall, the House measure allows the Bush administration to spend $491 billion for defense in the budget year that begins October 1, though the actual money will be provided in later legislation. The total includes $49 billion to support operations in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and fight terrorism. The bill permits the Pentagon to spend billions on military supplies, including armored vehicles, night vision devices and jammers to defend against roadside bombs. It also allows the Army to increase its ranks by 10,000 and the Marine Corps to grow by 1,000. The measure also would allow 3.1 percent pay increases for military personnel. Hoping to rein in skyrocketing costs, the bill also calls for revamping the way the Pentagon buys weapons systems. It requires the Defense Department to submit to Congress an annual review of its Future Combat System program, a high-tech family of fighting systems. Currently, there are 2,823 military occupations open to women. That includes Army jobs in which women provide medical, maintenance and logistics support to units in combat zones. An additional 191 positions are closed to women. These are mostly infantry, armor, artillery and special forces jobs.
