phyzik
03-23-2007, 02:24 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/23/iraq.funding/index.html
House passes spending bill with Iraq deadline
POSTED: 2:26 p.m. EDT, March 23, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: President Bush denounces House Iraq vote as "political theater"
• House passes war spending bill by 218-212 vote
• Legislation includes 2008 deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
• Two House Republicans vote for bill; 14 Democrats vote against it
Adjust font size:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Friday voted 218-212 to approve an emergency $124 billion supplemental war spending bill that includes a firm deadline -- August 31, 2008 -- for combat troops to leave Iraq.
More than an hour after the vote, President Bush said that "a narrow majority in the House" had abdicated its responsibility to protect the troops, denouncing the vote as "political theater."
Bush said the vote had only one outcome: "It delays the delivery of vital resources for our troops."
He repeated his promise to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. The measure appears unlikely to pass the Senate with the deadline intact.
Two House Republicans -- Reps. Walter Jones of North Carolina and Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland -- voted in favor of the bill. Fourteen Democrats voted against it.
After the bill's passage, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters that voters' voices "have been heard."
"Congress has acted on the concerns of the American people," she said.
Before the vote, Pelosi said the bill would address the problems in Iraq by "rebuilding our military, honoring our promises to our veterans, holding the Iraqi government accountable and enabling us to bring our troops home."
"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," she added. "The American people see the reality of this war -- the president does not."
But Republicans called the measure a "prescription for failure."
"We all want our troops to come home -- when the job is done," said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas.
"We want to win. Internationally announcing our timelines for withdrawal literally hands the enemy our war plan," Johnson said. "What world superpower would do such a thing?"
Republicans also denounced the unrelated appropriations attached to the bill.
To help get reluctant lawmakers on board, Democrats added "sweeteners" to the $124 billion emergency supplemental spending bill.
The legislation includes some $21 billion to pay for items not in Bush's original request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $25 million to bail out spinach growers in California hurt by last year's E. coli outbreak. (Watch critics decry "emergencies" added to the bill )
The leadership had to win over anti-war Democrats who felt that the measure didn't go far enough. But some of the war's most liberal critics said they weren't buying it.
"Four years ago we were told we had no alternative but to go to war. Now we're told we have no alternative but to continue to war for another year or two," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said before the vote "The fact of the matter is we do have alternatives."
Kucinich said, "Congress has the power to stop funding the war. That's what we should do. That's what we should have done and that's what I'm going to continue to work toward. We have to get out of Iraq, period."
However, Rep. James McGovern, an anti-war Democrat from Massachusetts who had been on the fence, said he would vote yes.
"I have come to the conclusion that defeating the supplemental bill before us today would send a message to George Bush and Dick Cheney that they will continue to have a free pass from this Congress to do whatever the hell they want to do," McGovern said during Thursday's floor debate on the measure.
On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a version of the supplemental bill that calls for combat troops to be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. Republicans say they'll fight to strip out the deadline provisions when the bill reaches the floor next week. (Full story)
Last week, Senate Democrats fell short, on a 50-48 vote, in another attempt to impose a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
Once both the House and Senate versions are approved by their respective bodies, a conference committee will hammer out the differences.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for Congress to pass a bill quickly, or the military would be forced to take severe stopgap measures because of a lack of funding.
Among those measures, Gates said, would be slowing deployment of replacement troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and extending the tours of units already there.
"This kind of disruption to key programs will have a genuinely adverse effect on the readiness of the Army and the quality of life for soldiers and their families," Gates said. "I urge the Congress to pass the supplemental as soon as possible."
CNN's Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
House passes spending bill with Iraq deadline
POSTED: 2:26 p.m. EDT, March 23, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: President Bush denounces House Iraq vote as "political theater"
• House passes war spending bill by 218-212 vote
• Legislation includes 2008 deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
• Two House Republicans vote for bill; 14 Democrats vote against it
Adjust font size:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Friday voted 218-212 to approve an emergency $124 billion supplemental war spending bill that includes a firm deadline -- August 31, 2008 -- for combat troops to leave Iraq.
More than an hour after the vote, President Bush said that "a narrow majority in the House" had abdicated its responsibility to protect the troops, denouncing the vote as "political theater."
Bush said the vote had only one outcome: "It delays the delivery of vital resources for our troops."
He repeated his promise to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. The measure appears unlikely to pass the Senate with the deadline intact.
Two House Republicans -- Reps. Walter Jones of North Carolina and Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland -- voted in favor of the bill. Fourteen Democrats voted against it.
After the bill's passage, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters that voters' voices "have been heard."
"Congress has acted on the concerns of the American people," she said.
Before the vote, Pelosi said the bill would address the problems in Iraq by "rebuilding our military, honoring our promises to our veterans, holding the Iraqi government accountable and enabling us to bring our troops home."
"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," she added. "The American people see the reality of this war -- the president does not."
But Republicans called the measure a "prescription for failure."
"We all want our troops to come home -- when the job is done," said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas.
"We want to win. Internationally announcing our timelines for withdrawal literally hands the enemy our war plan," Johnson said. "What world superpower would do such a thing?"
Republicans also denounced the unrelated appropriations attached to the bill.
To help get reluctant lawmakers on board, Democrats added "sweeteners" to the $124 billion emergency supplemental spending bill.
The legislation includes some $21 billion to pay for items not in Bush's original request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $25 million to bail out spinach growers in California hurt by last year's E. coli outbreak. (Watch critics decry "emergencies" added to the bill )
The leadership had to win over anti-war Democrats who felt that the measure didn't go far enough. But some of the war's most liberal critics said they weren't buying it.
"Four years ago we were told we had no alternative but to go to war. Now we're told we have no alternative but to continue to war for another year or two," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said before the vote "The fact of the matter is we do have alternatives."
Kucinich said, "Congress has the power to stop funding the war. That's what we should do. That's what we should have done and that's what I'm going to continue to work toward. We have to get out of Iraq, period."
However, Rep. James McGovern, an anti-war Democrat from Massachusetts who had been on the fence, said he would vote yes.
"I have come to the conclusion that defeating the supplemental bill before us today would send a message to George Bush and Dick Cheney that they will continue to have a free pass from this Congress to do whatever the hell they want to do," McGovern said during Thursday's floor debate on the measure.
On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a version of the supplemental bill that calls for combat troops to be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. Republicans say they'll fight to strip out the deadline provisions when the bill reaches the floor next week. (Full story)
Last week, Senate Democrats fell short, on a 50-48 vote, in another attempt to impose a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
Once both the House and Senate versions are approved by their respective bodies, a conference committee will hammer out the differences.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for Congress to pass a bill quickly, or the military would be forced to take severe stopgap measures because of a lack of funding.
Among those measures, Gates said, would be slowing deployment of replacement troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and extending the tours of units already there.
"This kind of disruption to key programs will have a genuinely adverse effect on the readiness of the Army and the quality of life for soldiers and their families," Gates said. "I urge the Congress to pass the supplemental as soon as possible."
CNN's Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.