Congressional actions to end the Iraq War in the 110th Congress

Current status
On February 26, 2008, the Senate voted 70 to 24 to begin debate on a bill that would require the administration to start withdrawing forces from Iraq within 120 days. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis), also calls for a reduction in funding for battlefield deployments. The bill is widely expected to fail; many Republican Senators voted to begin debate on the measure as a way of highlighting the improvements in security in Iraq that have occurred over the last year.

Senate Republicans defeat bid to end war in March 2007
Before beginning debate on the 2007 supplemental spending bill, the Senate voted on S.J.9, which was titled "A joint resolution to revise United States policy on Iraq." The resolution would require President Bush to begin a phased redeployment of U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 120 days of the enactment of the resolution. It would set a goal (not binding) of redeploying all troops by March 31, 2008. After this date, remaining troops could remain in the country only to:
 * Protect United States and coalition personnel and infrastructure.
 * Train and equip Iraqi forces.
 * Conduct targeted counter-terrorism operations.



The Senate voted to invoke cloture and debate the resolution on March 14. The vote was 89-9. (Vote breakdown.)

On March 15, 2007, the Senate considered the measure. It was defeated by a vote of 48-50. One Republican, Sen. Gordon Smith (D-Ore.), voted in favor of it, while two Democrats, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), voted against it. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also opposed it.



Republicans defect from President Bush’s Iraq policy over summer 2007
During the 110th Congress, particularly in the summer of 2007, numerous Republican senators once heavily supportive of President Bush’s Iraq policy began calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq. These included the following senators:


 * Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) - Has expressed "grave doubts" about President Bush's Iraq policies, and voted against the early 2007 "troop surge", but has yet to support legislation calling for a troop withdrawal.
 * Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) - Announced on July 7, 2007 that he supported troop withdrawals. He cited that Iraqi leaders were making little progress towards stabilization.
 * Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) - Has long been a critic of President Bush's Iraq policies and voted with Democrats on the supplemental bill calling for a troop withdrawal that Bush vetoed in May 2007.
 * Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) - Announced on June 26, 2007 that he now supported troop withdrawals from Iraq, though his press secretary said this does not mean he would support Democratic withdrawal bills/resolutions.
 * Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) - Voted with Democrats on the supplemental bill calling for a troop withdrawal that Bush vetoed in May 2007.
 * Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) - Announced on July 11, 2007 that she would support a troop withdrawal bill proposed by Democrats.
 * Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) - Announced on June 27, 2007 that he supported shifting responsibility of the war to Iraqi troops. He stated, "“We must not abandon our mission, but we must begin a transition where the Iraqi government and its neighbors play a larger role in stabilizing Iraq.”
 * Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) - Hailed Lugar's comments (see above), and argued that U.S. policy in Iraq must be changed before September 2007.

Fall bridge funding
In November, Democratic leaders again introduced a measure designed to force a time line for troop withdrawal. Following the defeat of the Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act (see below), the Pentagon announced that 200,000 contractors and civilian employees might be laid off by the end of the year if supplemental funding was not approved by Congress.

The announcement indicated that the jobs would be in jeopardy because a $196 billion request by President Bush had not been fulfilled by the House or Senate. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called on Congress to "to send the president supplemental war funding without arbitrary surrender dates and without micromanaging the war," while Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell called the situation "extremely desperate."

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) countered that claim, saying funding was approved by the House but blocked by Republicans in the senate.

$70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan passed in omnibus bill


The omnibus spending bill passed by Congress at the end of 2007 that contains most of the discretionary spending for the 2008 fiscal year, the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R.2764), contained $70 billion in unrestricted funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.



External resources

 * TheWeekInCongress
 * H.R.1591: U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act of 2007

External articles

 * Mike Soraghan, "House panel approves Iraq supplemental" The Hill, March 15, 2007.
 * Jonathan Weisman, "War bill includes tempting projects" The Hill, March 20, 2007.
 * Shailagh Murray, "Senate Democrats Float War Bill Similar to That in House," Washington Post, March 22, 2007.
 * Elana Schor and Roxanna Tiron, "Supplemental clears committee with a new GOP backer in sight," The Hill, March 23, 2007.
 * Elana Schor, "Senate votes 50-48 to keep withdrawal date for troops", The Hill, March 28, 2007.
 * Peter Baker and Shailagh Murray, "Senate Sets Stage For Iraq Face-Off", Washington Post, March 30, 2007.
 * Bob Geiger, "Democrats Move To Cut Bush's War Funding If Iraq Withdrawal Vetoed," BobGeiger Blogspot, April 2, 2007. See Text of Feingold-Reid bill.
 * David Swanson, "You Can't Hurt a Troop by Defunding a War," OpEdNews, April 8, 2007.
 * "Levin: Senate Will Keep Paying for War," Associated Press (ABC News), April 8, 2007.
 * Chuck Neubeauer, "War funding won't be cut, senator says. But pressure must be kept on Bush for a political settlement in Iraq, the Armed Services Committee chief says," Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2007.
 * Patrick O'Connor, "Republicans reject partial war-funding bill,"The Politico, May 8, 2007.