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Anti-Iraq resolution tacked onto budget bill

Passage of a government funding bill to cover the rest of this fiscal year became more complicated Monday when opponents of the Bush administration’s Iraq strategy offered a resolution opposing the buildup of troops as an amendment to the bill.

The move by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, carries through with a promise made last week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who were disappointed when partisan bickering prevented a vote on Iraq-related legislation last week.

Debate in the House of Representatives on Iraq policy is scheduled to begin tomorrow and last for at least three days, with votes coming on Friday. The House is considering a very short, two-paragraph resolution that opposes building up troops in Iraq but pledges support for deployed forces.

The resolution offered by Warner, and cosponsored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the current armed services committee chairman, is a little different. It urges President Bush to consider alternatives to the deployment of 21,500 more troops that is under way. The resolution supports sending more troops into restive Anbar province to battle insurgents and suspected terrorists, but does not support having more U.S. troops involved in quelling sectarian violence in Baghdad.

The Warner-Levin resolution was debated last week but was pulled when the Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to cut off debate. Warner promised that he and his team of supporters would be back to try again.

The resolution was offered as an amendment to a $435 billion spending bill that lawmakers have been trying to pass by midnight Thursday, when funding for all federal agencies other than defense and homeland security will end. While it does not include money for the war effort or for personnel, weapons or operations programs, the spending bill includes funding for veterans’ and military construction programs, including a $3.6 billion boost for veterans’ health care and a $1.2 billion increase in military health care.

Renewed debate on Iraq could make the deadline more difficult to meet, though Warner had said he believes he has the support of the majority of the Senate because most Democrats and at least seven Republicans will vote with him.

“Our men and women in the armed forces are fighting bravely in that conflict, as they are in conflict elsewhere worldwide,” Warner said. “Our concerns are heartfelt, not driven by political motivation.”

The fate of the Senate resolution could be decided Tuesday morning, when the first votes of the week are scheduled.