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thedrifter
05-07-07, 08:16 AM
Withdrawal deadline holds up war supplemental
By Rick Maze - rmaze@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 14, 2007

Congress and the White House are now working together on a compromise war funding bill, but the political clash over finding an end to combat operations in Iraq could delay completion of the 2008 defense budget.

President Bush vetoed, as he had threatened, the $124.2 billion supplemental appropriations bill, which included about $100 billion in defense spending, because it included a deadline for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq and restrictions on deployments. He also said it had too much nondefense spending.

With its narrow Democratic majority, the House of Representatives was unable to muster the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto. The vote was 222 to override and 203 to sustain the veto. The Senate did not vote.

Unable to force acceptance of the bill, lawmakers are left either to work with Bush on a compromise to get the emergency funding to the military, or be accused of failing to fund military forces in time of war. Democratic leaders chose to compromise, but their willingness to work with the administration extends only to the supplemental funding bill.

The ideological battle over whether to set a deadline for withdrawal, and whether to set limits on deployments or ensure troops spend at least as much time at home as deployed, is now shifting to the two bills that make up the 2008 defense budget — the authorization bill that sets policy and the appropriations bill that provides actual funding.

“We could be doing this all over again, with another toe-to-toe fight over whether we need to have limits on how long the U.S. is going to stay in Iraq or whether this is an open-ended mission,” said a House Armed Services Committee aide who asked not to be identified.

Such a battle would likely lead to another veto threat hanging over the legislation, with Democrats again unable to muster enough votes to override a veto unless more Republicans agree on forcing a withdrawal of troops or Democrats craft a new provision that can win the support of a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate.

The House Armed Services Committee began writing its version of the 2008 defense authorization bill May 2, and the Senate Armed Services Committee is getting ready to begin work on its version as well.

The separate funding bill prepared by the House and Senate Appropriations committees usually follows right behind the authorization, although House Appropriations Committee aides said they do not expect to begin writing the 2008 funding bill until the 2007 war supplemental is finished.

In his veto message to Congress, Bush said the withdrawal deadline could make things far worse.

“Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq is not a plan to bring peace to the region or to make our people safer here at home,” he said. Instead, it would make adversaries think the U.S. does “not stand behind its commitments” and could make Iraq a safe haven for terrorists who could later attack the U.S.

Bush also said deployment restrictions on Army and Marine forces — preventing the extension of combat tours, requiring a minimum of as much time at home as deployed and prohibiting anyone from being deployed who has not been fully trained and equipped — represented micromanagement.

The revised supplemental appropriations bill is expected to be almost identical in terms of spending for the Defense Department and for veterans’ health programs. It provides slightly more than $100 billion for the Pentagon, including $3 billion for mine-resistant vehicles, a $1 billion increase for Guard and reserve equipment, and $1.1 billion for military housing.

The vetoed bill included $50.4 billion for operations and maintenance, $25.6 billion for weapons procurement, $13.5 billion for military personnel, $3.3 billion for military health care and $1.3 billion for weapons research.

Also in the bill was $3.1 billion to cover construction costs related to base closings and realignments.

Ellie