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‘No’ vote on micromanaging Global War on Terror

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (NC-05) today voted against a troop funding bill (H.R. 1591) that calls for a deadline for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.  The bill came to the floor again today after coming out of conference with the Senate.  Rep. Foxx first voted against this measure in March.

“This bill is reckless,” Rep Foxx said.  “Our men and women in uniform deserve funding without strings attached.  Instead, the Democrats insist on forcing the commanders in the field to comply with an arbitrary withdrawal date.”

In its December 2006 report, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group opposed setting a deadline for withdrawal.  Such a timeline would infringe on commanders’ ability to respond to events on the ground, according to the panel’s co-chairman, former Secretary of State James A. Baker.

“Military leaders, not politicians, should be making the decisions that affect the conduct of this war,” Foxx said.  “If my Democrat colleagues are opposed to the war they should vote to rescind the president’s authority to conduct it.  But since they lack the courage to take this step they have resorted to a dangerous political tactic that delays vital funds for our troops.”

The supplemental funding bill also contains more than $28 billion in spending not related to the war on terror—from money for drought assistance to funds for salmon fisheries.  This spending has been added outside of the normal budget process and therefore is not subject to budget rules. 

“Shoehorning billions into an emergency bill is a cheap ploy to sidestep the budget rules that the Democrats themselves enacted,” Congresswoman Foxx said,   “By skirting their own budget rules, Democrats have once again proven that their claims of fiscal restraint are a sham.  We should not be muddying the waters of this important issue with completely unrelated spending.”

The supplemental war funding bill passed the House by a narrow margin of 218-208.  It now goes to President Bush who has promised to veto the bill and return it to Congress and that for a funding package that does not set a timeline for troop withdrawal.