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Bush requests $45.9B in emergency war funds |
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By Jonathan E. Kaplan
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Posted: 10/23/07 07:23 PM [ET] |
President Bush asked Congress on Monday to quickly pass a $45.9 billion emergency budget for Iraq and Afghanistan, setting up another potential showdown between the White House and Democratic-controlled Congress.
“I often hear that war critics oppose my decisions but still support the troops,” Bush said. “Well, I’ll take them at their word — and this is the chance to show it, that they support the troops.”
But House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) has said he would not consider a spending measure before next year unless Bush changed his Iraq policy. He also proposed a surtax to pay for the war, but the idea was quickly shouted down.
Meanwhile, anti-war liberals want Democratic leaders to begin all Iraq-related legislation with a preamble stating, “We are committed to ending the war in Iraq as safely and quickly as possible and bringing our soldiers home.”
California Democrats Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, the House’s leading anti-war lawmakers, said they reached the agreement in a Sept. 27 meeting with 10 lawmakers representing various factions of the Democratic Party, according to a letter they sent to Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) on Oct. 2.
“This simple statement is a unifying message, and captures everyone’s shared intent to end the war despite the differences in how we intend to arrive at our final goal,” they wrote in the letter, which The Hill obtained Monday.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tapped Larson, the vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, to help build consensus among Democrats and formulate policy and a press strategy on Iraq. Ten lawmakers, including Reps. Mike Thompson (Calif.), John Tanner (Tenn.), Allyson Schwartz (Pa.), David Price (N.C.), Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii), Ellen Tauscher (Calif.) and Woolsey, attended the Sept. 27 meeting, according to sources in the room.
“In general I think it is a great idea, especially since so many members of the caucus feel they can support it,” Larson said in a statement Monday. “I am forwarding their letter along to the appropriate committee chairs and members of leadership.”
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