Democrats Pass Bill To Begin Troop Withdrawal

April 25, 2007 07:57 PM

In a vote of 218-208, the United States House of Representatives has passed legislation that would implement a timeline for the phased withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, beginning in October. The emergency funding bill, which would provide $100 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, has been hotly debated.
In supporting the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took to the house floor to argue that the war was reducing America's readiness to combat terrorism and other threats. "By placing an unacceptable strain on our military," she told lawmakers, "this war is undermining our ability to protect the American people."
"'We are not prepared for the threats this nation faces here at home,'" Pelosi added, quoting US Marine Corps Major General Arnold L. Punaro, "'And because in this business you can't be half-ready or half-prepared, you're either ready or you aren't...We have put our citizens at greater risk. We've put their lives at greater risk, their property, our economy, our way of life, and that's just unacceptable.'"
Republicans, for their part, argued that the legislation unnecessarily undermined the war effort.
"This legislation ought to focus on our troops," Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) argued on the house floor, "it ought to respect, not micro-manage, the ground commanders." Lewis also questioned Congress' qualifications to to "manage" the war.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) invoked, among other events, US withdrawal from the Vietnam war to argue that ending the war in Iraq at this point would be a continuation of what he sees as a pattern of US unresponsiveness to international threats.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was loudly boo-ed by fellow lawmakers when she said that supporters of the bill were "doing their best" to deny troops essential funding. Democrats noted, however, that the vote provided more money for the wars than President Bush had requested--which Republicans had characterized as "pork"--and noted that the progress benchmarks included in the bill were those suggested by his administration.
"They're criticizing their own benchmarks," Pelosi concluded.
The Senate is expected to take on the legislation tomorrow. President Bush is expected to veto the legislation next week.

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