President Obama Signs Defense Policy Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says a $680 billion defense policy bill he signed into law proves that it’s possible to change the business-as-usual atmosphere in Washington.

Obama signed the bill Wednesday in an elaborate East Room ceremony at the White House. The president says the bill finally cuts wasteful weapons projects that some lawmakers have spent years trying to kill. Among them is the Cold War-era F-22 fighter jet that critics have said is poorly suited for the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the bill also includes a program Obama had threatened to veto, the development of an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The administration said the spending on plans for the second engine was unnecessary and would disrupt the F-35 program.