The $681 billion U.S. defense budget bill, with controversial funding and hate-crime provisions, takes center stage Wednesday at the White House.

President Barack Obama was to sign into law the bill that contains funding for an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, which the administration opposes, and an expansion of the definition of federal hate crimes to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability, the White House said.

The 2010 defense authorization bill awaiting Obama's signature would provide for a 3.4 percent pay raise for military members, includes several healthcare-related provisions and would authorizes a 30,000-soldier temporary increase for the Army, the Air Force Times reported.

The defense bill appropriates a $680 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal 2010, including $130 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill also would provide $250 million for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, something senior Pentagon officials called unneeded.