Dems getting back to Iraq issue
Posted: Friday, June 29, 2007 1:16 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress, Democrats, Security
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Congressional Democrats will spend July getting back to the issue of Iraq, trying different legislative ways to force a troop withdrawal and re-gain the favor of disaffected anti-war voters in the bargain."We have many arrows in our quiver, and we are sharpening them," Speaker
Nancy Pelosi says of the measures under consideration. She announced that the House will once again take up legislation that would require a withdrawal to begin within 180 days, with a goal of complete transition into a non-combat role by April 1, 2008.
This time, the move will NOT be attached to a funding bill, but on a measure that authorizes Defense Department operations. Many Democrats felt that they had put themselves in a box last time out, as they had pledged not to cut off funding for troops in the field yet were using a funding bill to try and end the war. We all know how that ended up.
Other steps are under consideration:
-- a move to effectively rescind the Fall 2002 authorization of the war in Iraq;
-- legislation that would force the closing of Gitmo;
-- language that would forbid the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq;
-- and an attempt to use the regular Defense Department funding bill to bring an end to American involvement.
