WASHINGTON - The Senate approved a defense bill today that authorizes spending $629 million on construction and research in Hawai'i next year.

The bill, which passed on a 88-8 vote, would authorize $612 billion in spending for defense programs next year, including $70 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a 3.9 percent pay increase for the military.

The next step is for Senate and House negotiators to work out the differences in the versions of the bill their chambers have approved. A final bill will be sent to President Bush for his signature.

"I was pleased to vote in favor of final passage," said U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka, D-Hawai'i, a subcommittee chairman on the Senate Armed Forces Committee. "The bill…includes many significant provisions to restore the readiness of our troops and improve the Department of Defense's acquisition policies and business management."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, also voted for the bill.

About $578.2 million of funds coming to Hawai'i next year would be used for military construction and $52.3 million for research and other programs.

The Army's Schofield Barracks would receive $279 million for a brigade complex, two battalion complexes, a barracks and water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure to support military personnel as part of an overall increase in the size of the Army.

At Pearl Harbor, the Navy would use more than $80 million for fitness center, child development center and a staging area to be used for deployments by the 25th Infantry Division, including the new Stryker Brigade.

Research projects include $3 million to develop new sensor technologies for the Army to use in detecting explosive devices at a distance. The University of Hawai'i, Arkansas State University and Florida A&M University will conduct the research.

In other funding, Group IQ in Mililani would receive $3 million for a project that uses information technologies to jointly test cost-effective applications of new and existing communications technologies for the armed services.

Other Hawai'i construction and research projects in the bill include: