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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: War Funding May Soon Reach Floor (HOUSE DEMS SEEK TO END TORTURE, GITMO, PERMANENT BASES, IRAQ OCCUPATION) War Funding May Soon Reach Floor By Liriel Higa, CQ Staff Democratic leaders said Monday they aim to bring the long-awaited bill that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the House floor later this week. But GOP appropriators, upset that Democrats plan to bypass a committee markup and bring the supplemental funding measure directly to the floor, began their promised efforts to block the bill. With the bill now written, Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the Rules Committee, said she hoped her panel would mark up the measure on Wednesday, meaning floor action as early as Thursday. But Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey, D-Wis., said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., would decide the timing of floor action on the measure. James P. Moran, D-Va., a senior House appropriator, said the fiscal 2008 Military Construction-VA appropriations bill (HR 2642) would be the legislative vehicle for the measure. He said the contents of the bill would be stripped out and the measure amended by adding war money, domestic funding and policy sections. In its current draft form, the military section of the measure contains $100 billion for fiscal 2008 and $66.3 billion for fiscal 2009, according to a Democratic aide. The House version of the supplemental also will include expanded educational benefits for veterans, an extension of unemployment insurance and language shifting financial responsibility for Iraq reconstruction to the Baghdad government, Moran said. The Democratic Caucus is expected to learn the details of the supplemental bill at a meeting Tuesday. Republicans Employ Stall Tactics House Republican appropriators began Monday to carry out their threats to use procedural tactics to protest the lack of a committee markup. The House was set to consider 11 bills under suspension of the rules, a normally routine procedure that bars amendments, limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage. Usually, bills considered in this fashion are swiftly passed by voice vote. Jerry Lewis of California, the ranking Appropriations Republican, and later Jo Bonner of Alabama, the panel’s most junior Republican, raised points of order that objected to the absence of a quorum as debate concluded on each of the bills. Their moves effectively postponed votes on the motions to suspend the rules, and Democratic leaders put off action on eight of the 11 measures. Later, Republicans caused further delays by requesting the House reconsider earlier votes on two bills considered under suspension of the rules. The House voted to adjourn before voting on the third suspension. “Never in my 30 years in Congress has there been such an abuse of the processes and rules of the House,” Lewis said in a statement. “We, the Republican members of the Appropriations Committee, demand that this polluted, back-door scheme be brought to a halt, and that we return to a proper, fair and transparent appropriations process.” Obey declined to comment on the Republican floor actions. Republicans planned to continue with their protest tactics all week, including during the supplemental debate, said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. “We’re talking about a war funding bill that’s being crafted by a few people in a back room. It’s just not right,” said Steel. The Republican tactics echoed last year’s GOP protests over a Democratic plan to release earmarks after floor passage of the annual appropriations bills, but before conference. Democrats had to abandon their plan after Republicans brought floor action to a halt. Obey’s Senate counterpart, Chairman Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., announced last week that he planned to hold a markup of the supplemental this week. But none has been scheduled yet. “We are in a holding pattern,” said Byrd spokesman Jesse Jacobs Monday evening. Measure Includes Policy Prescriptions The emergency spending bill, which Democrats have spent weeks writing, would require Iraq to match dollar for dollar all U.S. expenditures on major Iraq reconstruction projects and the training of the Iraqi Security Forces, Moran said. The policy section will include language requiring the Bush administration to move toward closing the detention center at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, he said. The policy section also will include a call for a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, a ban on permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, expanded prohibitions against the use of torture, and a mandate that U.S. troops be fully trained and equipped before combat deployments, Moran added. Inside the defense-spending portion of the bill, some items that House appropriators had recommended were scrubbed during an informal “preconference” meeting. C.W. Bill Young of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said that while his panel had recommended adding money for the procurement of F-22 Raptor warplanes and an additional LPD-17 ship, Senate leaders objected. But money for 15 additional C-17 airlifters and 34 C-130 transport planes survived the informal preconference, a Democratic aide confirmed. Moran said the domestic spending in the bill was written narrowly as part of what he called a “sincere effort” to produce a bill President Bush could sign. Democrats pared back some of the defense and diplomatic requests so that they could fit about $2 billion in domestic spending under the $108.1 billion cap, according to a House aide. In addition to this spending, the bill is expected to include most or all of the president’s request for $5.8 billion in fiscal 2009 emergency funding for efforts to aid the Gulf Coast. Leaders also plan to include an extension of unemployment benefits, some funding for increased veterans’ benefits and language to block Medicaid regulations proposed by President Bush, the aide said. A bill (HR 5613) to block those regulations recently passed the House by a 349-6 vote. Josh Rogin, David Clarke and Emily Ethridge contributed to this story.
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#1. To: aristeides (#0)
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
this is all good news. I'm a little skeptical about the Democrats to actually do what they say they want to do. There's a lot of deception. Wake me up when they succeed. If they do succeed it may be the end of congress as an emergency may happen requiring martial law & dictatorship.
Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
if they pass this bill in the house and the Senate ignores this, then the next step would be to simply not provide any funding at all for the wars. The Senate nor the president can do anything about it if the House refuses to provide any money at all. I hope they do it.
Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
I wish all the House democrats very good luck if they want to stop the war funding. If they succeed, I'll be happy. But I am skeptical that democracy just doesn't work. Here is a video of democratic process in Europe.
Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
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