Submitted by Conor Kenny on
While most Americans were enjoying a long Presidents’ Day weekend, the Senate was busy at the Capitol debating President Bush’s proposed escalation of the Iraq War. Congresspedia has stayed on top of the action, and many new updates can now be found on the Iraq troop “surge” page.
This past Saturday (Feb. 17), for the second time in as many weeks, Senate Republicans filibustered a measure disapproving of President Bush’s decision to send over 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. The non-binding resolution, which was passed by the House 246-182 on Feb. 16, would have declared that, “Congress disapproves of the decision...to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.” Despite having the support of a majority of senators, a motion to invoke cloture on the resolution fell short of the necessary 60 votes, and failed 56-34.
Cloture was supported by all voting Senate Democrats, though Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, voted for the filibuster. Seven Republicans crossed party lines and voted for cloture. This group included Sens. Norm Coleman (Minn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Chuck Hagel (Neb.), Gordon Smith (Ore.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Arlen Specter (Pa.), and John Warner (Va.). In a speech on the floor, Warner stated, “We have the right to respectfully disagree...it is the duty of the Iraqi armed forces to take on the sectarian fight.” (watch)
The filibuster was again the result of a disagreement between Senate leaders. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to support a vote on the measure unless Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also allowed a vote on a resolution promising that the Senate would continue to fund the war. Reid refused to do so, arguing that it was simply an attempt to “divert attention from the issue at hand.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a supporter of the "surge," called the Saturday vote a "stupid political game" and said he believed Democrats were "afraid" to vote on funding.
Following the vote, Reid said it was unlikely that the resolution would be brought to the floor again, and implied that Democrats would instead focus on measures aimed at redeploying some U.S. troops from Iraq. These efforts, according to Foreign Relations Committee Chair Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Armed Services Committee Chair Carl Levin (D-Mich.), will likely include an attempt to revise the original 2002 resolution which authorized President Bush to use military force in Iraq. The revision, according to Levin, would seek to "limit the mission of American troops to a support mission instead of a combat mission."
This was a heavily debated and high-profile vote. If you agree, add how your senator voted to his or her profile by looking them up by name or state, clicking "edit" and typing it in. The full listing of how each senator voted can be found here.
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