
The Senate on Thursday passed the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill, sending it to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature into law.The vote was 92-7. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the bill. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) abstained. The House passed the bill earlier in the week. The bill authorizes $619 billion for defense. This includes $60 billion in overseas contingency operations…