Water Resources Development Act of 2007/Iraq War amendments

Reid uses water resources bill to debate Iraq War
On May 14, 2007 Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced two amendments to a water-resources bill (H.R.1495) aimed at addressing the Iraq War, the first of which mirrored the Feingold legislation. The second amendment was similar to the previously passed legislation (which Bush vetoed) and would provide funding to U.S. combat troops, as well as call for withdrawal deadlines. The amendment, however, would include waivers allowing Bush to sidestep any Iraq withdrawal timeline.



Feingold amendment
This amendment, by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), was originally a stand-alone bill, S.1077. The bill, however, had not seen action since it was introduced on April 10, 2007 and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.



The bill/amendment called on the president to begin the withdrawal of troops within four months and would cut off funding for the continued deployment of U.S. soldiers in Iraq beyond March 31, 2008. Specifically, the bill/amendment called for the following:


 * "The president shall promptly transition the mission of United States forces in Iraq to the following limited purposes:
 * 1) "Conducting targeted operations, limited in duration and scope, against members of al Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations.
 * 2) "Providing security for United States infrastructure and personnel.
 * 3) "Training and equipping Iraqi security services.


 * "The president shall commence the safe, phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq in no more than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this act.


 * "No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after March 31, 2008.

Vice-President Dick Cheney responded to the continued Democratic effort in Congress to end the war by stating, “The Democrats believe they can make the president accept unwise and inappropriate restrictions on our commanders…They're going to find out that they've misread George W. Bush.”

On May 16, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Feingold measure, 29-67. No Republicans supported the measure. Following the vote, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stated "Once again, an overwhelming bipartisan majority rejected giving our enemy a timeline for withdrawal...The U.S. Senate has continued to show that an arbitrary surrender date is a non-starter. We need to move forward with the business of ensuring our troops have the funding, training and equipment they need to complete their mission."



Warner amendment
Warner's amendment:


 * Cited the 18 benchmarks the President had established to Congress in January and that the Iraqi government had agreed upon (see the main article, Iraq benchmarks). It then required:
 * The president to submit a report to Congress by July 15, 2007, on the progress towards meeting the benchmarks and the "advisability of implementing such aspects of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, as he deems appropriate."
 * The president to report the revisions to U.S. strategy for any of the benchmarks that had not been satisfied.
 * The president to submit a second report on Sept. 15, 2007 and for the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq to testify in open and closed congressional committee hearings about the report.


 * Cut off funding for the Economic Support Fund for Iraq if the president could not report that Iraq was "making progress on each of the benchmarks," though the president had the option to waive this requirement if he made a report to Congress on how the U.S. was going to bring the Iraqi government into compliance with the benchmarks.


 * Required the president to remove U.S. forces from Iraq if the Iraqi government "reached a consensus as recited in a resolution" asking for this.


 * Required the Comptroller General of the United States to submit an independent report on the status of the achievement of the benchmarks.


 * Funded $750,000 for the Department of Defense to commission an independent non-profit organization with expertise in military affairs to prepare a report within 120 days on the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces to provide internal security and root out terrorists within 12-18 months and whether continued support by U.S. troops would help the ISF accomplish these goals.

When a cloture vote was brought to end debate and bring a vote on the amendment, supporters were only able to garner 52 of the 60 votes they needed.



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.