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thedrifter
07-18-07, 02:39 PM
Senate shelves defense policy bill
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 18, 2007 15:10:36 EDT

The $648 billion defense authorization bill was pulled from the Senate floor Wednesday when it became clear that debate over the war in Iraq had poisoned chances for bipartisan agreement on even noncontroversial issues like increases in pay and benefits.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, pulled the defense bill after falling eight votes short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle thrown up by Republicans to block an Iraq withdrawal amendment crafted by Democrats.

“Because Republicans continue to block votes on important amendments to the defense authorization bill, we can make no further progress on Iraq and this bill at this time,” Reid said as he pulled the bill from the floor and the Senate turned to other legislation.

Hundreds of other amendments are pending on the bill, but Reid said he could see no reason to continue because of behind-the-scenes objections to routine agreements.

“More than 300 amendments have been filed and we have not been able to get a finite list of amendments for consideration,” Reid said.

Additionally, he said the Democratic and Republican staffs on the Senate Armed Services Committee “have been unable to work in a bipartisan manner to clear large numbers of routine amendments due to the objections of one or two members on the other side of the aisle.”

Such agreements are a routine way of handling the massive number of amendments. Reid said this has been the practice “for as long as I can remember, but not this year and not with this handful of dedicated obstructionists.”

Reid described pulling the bill as a “temporary” step, but neither he nor his staff gave any indication when the Senate might return to work on the bill, which sets defense policy for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. Included are provisions to increase military pay and benefits, block a Pentagon attempt to raise fees for retirees using the military’s Tricare health insurance program and approve hundreds of new or modified weapons procurement and research projects.

Senate aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it is very likely the Senate will not return to work on the bill before September, which is when the U.S. Central Command will issue a report on the effectiveness of the current surge strategy of using more U.S. combat troops to try to make Iraq secure enough that the U.S. can withdraw its forces. If the report shows the surge has not yet succeeded, Democrats hope they could get more Republicans to vote for a redeployment plan.

“I hope that as we continue through the summer and into the fall that we develop a bipartisan solution that creates a diplomatic, economic and military roadmap to end American combat operations in Iraq,” said Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., in a statement that appears to confirm the bill may not considered again until September.

The House passed its version of the bill in May and has been waiting on the Senate so that negotiations can begin on a final compromise measure.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Ark., said he thinks about 70 senators would agree the surge strategy isn’t working but there is no alternative that 70 of them would agree to support.

In pulling the bill after 10 days of debate, Reid said he felt a mixture of “pride and regret.” He was proud, he said, that Democrats and a few Republicans voted to change Iraq policy, but regretted that the Republican minority “blocked the will of the people and the majority of the Congress.”

Republicans countered that Reid didn’t have to pull the bill and could bring it back up for debate at any time if Democrats were not insisting on including Iraq withdrawal language.

Ellie