Final vote this week on Iraq withdrawal bill; Bush Promises Veto

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Update 2: On Thursday afternoon, the Senate followed the House in passing the spending bill, 51-46. It now goes to President Bush, who is expected to veto it.

Update: Late Wednesday night, the House passed the $124 billion supplemental spending bill which establishes timetables for a U.S. combat withdrawal from Iraq, 218-208.

Both chambers of Congress are set to vote this week on final passage of the contentious Iraq War funding bill. This past weekend, House and Senate Democrats met in conference and agreed to language on a $124 billion supplemental spending bill which would provide $96 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but also set timetables for the removal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq. The timetables appear to reflect public opinion on the war, as polls indicate that roughly six in ten Americans now support a withdrawal by 2008.

Specifically, the bill would establish several "benchmarks" for the Iraqi government to meet, including the creation of a program to disarm militias, reductions in sectarian violence, the easing of rules that have eliminated all former Baath Party members from the government, and passage of an oil-revenue-sharing law. Under the bill, if the Bush administration determines by July 1 that these benchmarks are not being met, U.S. troops would begin leaving Iraq immediately with a non-binding goal of completing the withdrawals by the end of 2007. If benchmarks are being met, troops would begin leaving no later than October 1, with a non-binding goal of finishing the pullout by April 1, 2008.

In addition to appropriating funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the bill is also loaded with earmarks seemingly designed to attract skeptical members. These include:

• $500 million for wildfire emergencies
• $425 million for a rural schools and roads program
• $60 million to help Pacific Coast salmon fishermen
• $94 million to repair California levees
• $400 million in energy assistance for low-income families
• $3.5 billion in agricultural assistance (including drought relief for Midwest farmers and California citrus growers)

The Bush administration strongly opposes the measure, and the president has promised to veto it. Earlier this week, Vice-President Dick Cheney criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for using the war for “political advantage.” A spokesperson for Reid sharply responded to Cheney, stating that "(he) should be the last person to lecture anyone on how leaders should make decisions...Leaders should make decisions based on facts and reality, two words that seem to be foreign to the Vice President...To suggest he lacks credibility would be an understatement.” Many past predictions Cheney has made regarding the war, including a June 2005 pronouncement that the insurgency was in its “last throes,” have proven to be incorrect.

Despite a certain veto, both the House and Senate are expected to vote on the bill this week. We at Congresspedia have been closely following all of the action on the Iraq War, and now have several pages (and two really neat charts) documenting both past and current legislation regarding the conflict. Be sure to check out the pages, and help improve them with your own edits!