Senate in Standoff Over Iraq Amendments to Defense Bill

The Congressional Quarterly reports:

The Senate refused Wednesday to limit debate on the first amendment to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, digging in along largely partisan lines over whether to tell President Bush how to wage the war in Iraq.

By 56-41, senators refused to invoke cloture on an amendment by Jim Webb, D-Va., that sought to require specific minimum intervals between deployments of U.S. troops. The final tally was four short of the 60 votes needed.

The Senate refused Wednesday to limit debate on the first amendment to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, digging in along largely partisan lines over whether to tell President Bush how to wage the war in Iraq.

By 56-41, senators refused to invoke cloture on an amendment by Jim Webb, D-Va., that sought to require specific minimum intervals between deployments of U.S. troops. The final tally was four short of the 60 votes needed.

Seven Republicans voted to limit debate — Norm Coleman, Minn., Susan Collins, Maine; Chuck Hagel, Neb.; Gordon H. Smith, Ore.; Olympia J. Snowe, Maine; John E. Sununu, N.H., and John W. Warner, Va. So did all 48 Democrats present and one independent, Bernard Sanders of Vermont. Independent Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut voted “no.”

The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto the defense bill (HR 1585) if the Webb amendment was adopted, or any other amendment that would set timetables for a withdrawal or dictate missions for the U.S. forces deployed in Iraq.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it was pointless to adopt amendments to the defense bill that will provoke a Bush veto.

But Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said exhausted troops and a public fed up with the war “deserve more than expressions of disapproval. Our votes, not our voices, will prove whether our resolve is firm and whether we are prepared to lead.”