WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush signed a 401-billion-dollar defense authorization bill Monday for the 2004 fiscal year at the Pentagon, pledging to do whatever is necessary to keep the United States strong and safe.

    "America's military is standing between our country and grave danger," Bush said at the signing ceremony.

    The authorization, an increase of 8 billion dollars over the 2003 fiscal year, provides a 4.15-percent average pay raise for military personnel and 9.1 billion dollars for the development of missile defense.

    It gave the Air Force a go-ahead to lease 20 Boeing 767 planes as midair refueling tankers and buy 80 more. The Air Force's original plan to lease all 100 planes was rejected by Congress because some lawmakers said it would be too costly.

    The bill also lifted a decade-old ban on research on low-yield nuclear weapons and deep earth-penetrating weapons. The Bush administration said the new weapons would be needed one day to destroy weapons of mass destruction hidden underground by hostile nations.

    Democrats have said lifting the ban could trigger a new nucleararms race.

    Most of the funding authorized in the bill will come from a 368-billion-dollar defense spending bill Bush signed on Sept. 30.

    The authorization bill also granted Defense Secretary Donald H.Rumsfeld much of the control he sought over the Pentagon's civilian work force. It would give supervisors greater flexibility to hire, fire and transfer civilian workers.

    Rumsfeld has sought to set up a separate personnel system for the Pentagon's civilian work force in a bid to free more troops for combat position. Democrats complained the bill stripped civilian workers of many basic rights. Enditem