Staring down the threat of a White House veto and some internal opposition, House Democrats Wednesday night passed legislation linking $50 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a withdrawal date.
The spending bill, which requires Bush to begin bringing troops home from Iraq within 30 days and to complete that withdrawal by Dec. 15, 2008, passed 218-203. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who had said he was undecided earlier in the day, voted present.
{mosads}Republican Reps. Phil English (Pa.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Christopher Shays (Conn.) and James Walsh (N.Y.) supported the bill. English and Walsh had never sided with Democrats on war-related funding measures.
Fifteen Democrats voted against the bill, including conservative Democratic Reps. John Tanner (Tenn.), Brian Baird (Wash.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Gene Taylor (Miss.), John Barrow (Ga.), Jim Marshall (Ga.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Nick Lampson (Texas) and Vic Snyder (Ark.) voted against the bill.
Liberal Reps. Tom Allen (Maine), Michael Michaud (Maine), Mike McNulty (N.Y.), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), and Fortney “Pete” Stark (Calif.) opposed the measure as well.
Democrats succeeded in defeating the Republican motion to recommit, which would have sent a $50 billion bill with no restrictions to Bush. It failed by a 192 to 231 margin with seven Democrats voting for the measure and eight Republicans opposing it.
“We all view this as a significant statement, a turning point,” Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) said. “This is the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq.”
Democrats have been weary of denying Bush money to prosecute the war, knowing that Republicans would accuse them of not supporting the troops. Instead Democrats have adopted a new strategy of forcing the Pentagon to resort to creative accounting – shifting funds from one program to another – to fund the war.
The $50 billion spending bill is the Democrats’ first attempt since General David Petreaus’s congressional testimony in early September – and the most aggressive since last spring – to restrict money to pay for the war.
While the bill does not preclude Bush from using the $50 billion to continue the war, Congress wants the money to be used to redeploy soldiers from Iraq. Troops can remain in the country after Dec. 15, 2008, to protect the U.S. embassy, bases and catch terrorists.
Bush also must certify within 15 days in advance of a military unit’s deployment that the unit is fully capable of performing its assigned mission.
The bill also prohibits the U.S. government from subjecting people in its custody to torture or treatment not authorized by the U.S. Army Field Manual.
Democratic leaders had planned to vote on the bill Wednesday afternoon, but they delayed it until Wednesday evening.
Fearing that liberal lawmakers would once again make it difficult to pass legislation that did not completely cut off funding, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with 10 liberals last Thursday night for 90 minutes. She incorporated some of their ideas into the legislation.
Pelosi met with nearly a dozen liberal lawmakers Wednesday afternoon to enlist their help in getting more liberals to support the bill. Many remained frustrated that Democratic leaders did not vote on a measure to completely cut funding.
The whips pressed Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who said he was frustrated because it was unlikely Republicans would vote for the bill and he wanted Democratic leaders to pass a bill that simply cut funding for the war.
Perhaps by catering to members of the Out of Iraq Caucus, Pelosi ran the risk of alienating Blue Dog Democrats. Some of them wanted to attach the money to a bill sponsored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.).
Their bill, which passed 377 to 46 (30 Democrats and 16 Republicans voted against the bill), would have required the Bush administration to develop a troop withdrawal plan.
“The House is Balkanized, the Senate is paralyzed,” Tanner said. “Let’s take [my bill] and use it as a vehicle. What am I missing here? It passed with 377 votes.”
The legislation must still clear the Senate, which might not happen until after the Thanksgiving recess. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he would force Republicans to filibuster the bill and not pass legislation that includes any supplemental funding this year.
Speaking at a town hall meeting Tuesday in Alexandria, Va., Rep. Jim Moran (D) said that, “Senate Republicans might let it go through knowing they would like to go home for Thanksgiving…The president then vetoes it. But we will not then fund the war for one more dime.”