House Democrats see Iraq withdrawal bill win
By Richard Cowan 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders on Wednesday predicted the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a war-funding bill that sets a strict timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from
Iraq, after struggling to round up sufficient votes.
"We're going to go this week," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We'll have 218 (votes)," Emanuel said.
Loading up the bill with funds for drought relief, hurricane rebuilding and other measures, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) of California and her Democratic lieutenants have worked to clinch the necessary votes -- 218 of the House's 435 members -- to pass a $124.1 billion bill that mostly funds the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan this year.
President George W. Bush wants the money to keep U.S. forces in Iraq in an effort to stabilize it. Democrats have made the spending bill the focus of their efforts to end the conflict that has entered its fifth year with more than 3,200 U.S. troops killed and more than 20,000 wounded.
But Democrats have been split, with liberals calling for a quicker withdrawal date than the bill sets and moderates worried they could be depicted as undermining U.S. troops by putting strings on the war-fighting funds.
Under the Democrats' bill, all U.S. combat troops would have to be out of Iraq by September 1, 2008, a provision the White House says would prompt a veto from Bush.
Democrats, already anticipating that veto, are eyeing other bills coming up this year to attach similar language while building pressure for an end to the war.
Backaing Bush, House Republicans said they were united against the Democrats' war funds bill. "There is only one way to do the right thing for our troops and for the safety and security of future generations of Americans," said House Republican leader John Boehner (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio, who called for a war-funding bill "with no strings attached."
'BIG TEST'
Some liberal Democrats have announced they would support Pelosi's bill even though they want an earlier troop pullout, letting Democratic leaders claim momentum going into the vote.
Rep. James Moran (news, bio, voting record), a Virginia Democrat who sits on the House Appropriations panel that oversees defense spending, said the vote "is really the first big test of whether we can pull together the left and the right (of the Democratic Party). It is a test of our leadership."
But indicative of how close the vote could be, Pelosi summoned former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to Capitol Hill to appeal to Democrats to vote for the war-funding bill with a timetable for troop withdrawal.
On Tuesday, Brzezinski, who served in President Jimmy Carter's administration, said the Democrats' war-funding bill "provides what has been lacking: a means to hold the Iraqi government accountable for its performance by conditioning U.S. support to the meeting of benchmarks already endorsed by
President Bush and Iraqi leaders."
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (news, bio, voting record), a New Hampshire Democrat newly elected in November on an anti-war platform, told reporters she will vote for the bill because it sets a date for withdrawal.
"If you want to support the troops, you need to get them out. This has a date, so I'm comfortable with this," she said.
Asked if she heard "murmuring" back home from war opponents in her district, Shea-Porter responded, "No murmuring, just screaming," from constituents who she said were shocked she would vote for any measure that continues to fund the war.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell)