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| House Vote Opposes Withdrawal from Iraq, Supports Guantanamo Operations |
| 2005-07-21 |
| CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Today reports (not available on line) that the U.S. House of Representatives debated and passed a measure proposed by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla, to oppose âpremature withdrawalâ of U.S. troops from Iraq. âIncessant calls for an established date for withdrawal from Iraq have a negative effect,â Ros-Lehtinen said on the floor. âThe amendment before us seeks to restate our commitment. Let us not waiver in our commitment in Iraq.â But Democrats complained the amendment was âunnecessary and inflammatory.â Jim McDermott, D-Wash., called the amendment âa Republican PR stunt.â âReality, like body armor, is in short supply with this administration,â McDermott said on the floor. âOur soldiers do not need the tin sound of another hollow amendment. They need the sound of silence when the bombs stop falling.â But Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, urged colleagues to âtruly support our troops in word and in deed by supporting the Ros-Lehtinen amendment,â and received a smattering of applause after his speech. I'm not sure how many sets of body armor each GI in Iraq needs, but I do know everyone has at least one - and replacements are also available. The House also spent an hour on an amendment by Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., that would declare that the lawful detention and interrogation of alleged terrorists at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is essential to winning the war against terror, eventually adopting the proposal by a vote of 304-124. Rohrabacher contended that detainees at Guantánamo Bay are actually better off, having gained weight and access to medical care since their capture. But debate often moved away from Guantánamo Bay and toward the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib in Baghdad last year. Congress has been too lax in accountability âfor abuses that started at Guantánamo and ended up in Iraq,â said Democrat Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. A key point: both measures were proposed ammendments to HR 2601 - which passed 351-78 - authorizing funding for State Department operations and international aid. The ammendment opposing withdrawal from Iraq was added on a 291-137 vote - the Guantanamo ammendment received slightly lower opposition. Bot are non-binding provisions of the bill. The Senate should have some fun with this one. |
| Posted by:mmurray821 |
| #6 I'm not sure how many sets of body armor each GI in Iraq needs, but I do know everyone has at least one - and replacements are also available. There's enough in theater and the Army is reportedly buying another 840,00 equipped with ceramic plates. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-07-21 20:31 |
| #5 PS - Since rascally Dana Rohrabacher is my congressman, and he poked Baghdad Jim in the eyeball... This is great! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-07-21 19:27 |
| #4 FYI Links for reference Rohrabacher Guantanamo Vote Ros-Lehtinen Iraq Vote |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-07-21 19:25 |
| #3 Great move by the Republicans! they need to have one of these "Protest Votes" every few months ro keep the meme on their toes. It also puts them on record. Wonder how Billiary voted? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-07-21 18:56 |
| #2 McDermott is CAIRs bitch-in-heat. He's always bending over for them and will do *anything* to appease the Islamists. They had to pass a resolution on this? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-07-21 18:54 |
| #1 Oh, also they have roll calls at the link. All but one Nays are democrats. Go figure. At least the democrat from Colorado, Salazar voted Aye. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-07-21 18:42 |