Congressional appropriators released March 2 a defense spending bill that would prevent President Donald Trump's administration from sending shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Syrian rebels in the latest showdown between the House and Senate over the issue.
Section 9013 of the fiscal year 2017 bill, a compromise between House and Senate appropriators, simply states that "none of the funds made available by this Act under the heading ‘Counter-ISIL [Islamic State] Train and Equip Fund' may be used to procure or transfer man-portable air defense systems [MANPADS]." The restriction clashes with the annual Defense authorization bill that President Barack Obama signed into law in December; that legislation for the first time explicitly allowed the Pentagon to deliver such weapons to vetted rebel groups, under certain conditions.
