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Democratic leaders Wednesday said they had a good meeting with President Bush at the White House on the issue of funding for the Iraq war.
“He took the time to hear our views and shared his with us,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said following the exchange of ideas with the president.
“I believe we were able to tell the president some things about our legislation that he may or may not have been aware of,” Pelosi added. “But this is about a change of mission from combat to training, to protecting our diplomats there, to fighting terrorism in the region, and to staying there to protect our interests wherever they may be threatened in the region.”
Prior to the meeting, Democrats had criticized Bush, arguing the president wanted only to reaffirm that he would not sign an Iraq supplemental spending bill with strings attached that would impede military leaders from carrying out their mission.Following the meeting, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused Democrats of continuing “to waste time by loading up a critical troop funding bill with a surrender date telegraphing defeat to the terrorists along with billions in pork at the expense of our men and women in uniform.” Both the House and Senate versions of the spending measure include timelines for troop withdrawal. The Democratic leaders touted the legislation, saying it is what the majority of Americans want.“The president, with the legislation that we have, that he will soon get, does more for the military than what he sent us,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “We believe he must search his soul, his conscience, and find out what is the right thing for the American people.”
Reid added that it was “extremely important” that Bush heard from Democrats.
“I think he needs to hear more of conversations from people like us who don’t always tell him what he wants to hear,” Reid stated. But Boehner said Bush is right to veto any spending bill with strings attached and noted that Republicans have the votes to sustain such a veto. He added that Democrats, “by embarking on this reckless path and delaying funding for our troops... are demonstrating their callous disregard for their mission and for the consequences of failure in the Global War on Terror.”
So far, both sides appear unwilling to budge on the issue, although Pelosi said that while Democrats will not give Bush a blank check, they are “willing to work with him to come to an agreement.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated the necessity of working together on the issue.
“Clearly, we cannot pass legislation over the president’s veto, and he can’t pass legislation that we don’t agree with,” Hoyer said.
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