Democrats Put Lipstick on Yet Another Iraq Occupation Funding Pig
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2007-11-07 15:21. Congress
House, Senate Democrats plan another Iraq strategy
By Manu Raju and Mike Soraghan, The Hill
Four powerful lawmakers are working on a new Iraq plan for the Democratic Congress in the hope it will reignite the war debate as soon as this week.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said the new legislation might include interim “bridge funds” providing partial military funding for the Iraq war as well as a mandate to change the mission of the U.S. military to counterterrorism and other operations. He also said it could include a goal of completing a troop withdrawal within nine months.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Levin, along with Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and House Appropriations defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) are working on “policy-changing” Iraq legislation that could be introduced as early as this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the basis of the plan is identical to previous bills moved by the Democratic majority, such as the withdrawal plan that the House passed in July and the war supplemental that President Bush vetoed in May.
“It will resemble what we have done before,” Pelosi said at a press conference today. “‘The same’ is pretty different than what the president wants.”
In an interview, Hoyer quipped, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
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