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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday that she wants a vote as early as Friday on a spending measure calling for withdrawal of troops from Iraq to begin immediately. She gave no indication that she expected the measure to fare better than previous Iraq withdrawal bills, which have either been vetoed by President Bush or did not pass the Senate. “We are restating the differentiation between us and the president of the United States,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. “This gives voice to the desires of the American people.” Pelosi said she hoped the measure would be voted on Friday, but noted that there can be difficulties in getting measures to the floor. If it does not go to a vote on Friday, the bill will be left hanging for the Veterans Day weekend. Pelosi said the Iraq withdrawal language will be attached to a four-month $50 billion “bridge fund” that keeps money flowing to troops in the field. It would require withdrawal to begin immediately on passage, with a goal of completing the withdrawal within a year. On the issue of torture, it would set in law the rules in the Army Field Manual, which do not allow torture. That would ban intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, from using controversial techniques like “waterboarding.” The legislation would also incorporate language from bills by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) that would grant additional training and rest time for troops between deployments. The $50 billion could be used only toward the withdrawal and other goals laid out in the legislation, Pelosi said. |
