FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2007

Goodlatte Condemns Democrats’ Vote-Buying Attempts on Iraq Bill
Democrat Leadership Will Stop at Nothing to Pass Flawed Bill

WASHINGTON – Committee Ranking Republican Bob Goodlatte issued the following statement today regarding the Democrats’ Iraq War bill, which outlines a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq, expected to be voted on tomorrow in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“If the stale rhetoric and blatant vote-buying issued by the Democrats to get votes for this bill is indicative of how business as usual will be in the House of Representatives for the next two years, then the American people should brace themselves for a long two years. Unable to garner enough votes for their flawed Iraq withdrawal timeline, the Democrats have thrown in everything but the kitchen sink in attempt to influence colleagues to vote for this bill in exchange for funding for unrelated items such as agriculture disaster assistance. Do not be fooled: this vote is about Iraq and the Democrats’ misguided judgment about U.S. military strategy in this volatile region. I believe that our strategy in Iraq should be evaluated and adjusted, but the Democrat response is the wrong response.

“Today’s USA Today editorial was right on the money in pointing out the Democrats’ tawdry attempts to garner votes for the supplemental bill. “… an emergency war funding bill — especially one that would set a hard exit date of Aug. 31, 2008, for U.S. troops in Iraq and impose strict readiness standards for deploying combat forces — is no place for extraneous issues. And certainly no place for bribes.”

“We need to address the pain of farm disaster and the continuing after-effects of the Katrina tragedy but not in this military supplemental appropriations bill and not at the price of abandoning our troops and the war on terror. This is evidence that the Democrats who are peddling this bill hold Members of the House in such contempt that they believe that piling on massive extraneous spending can cause Members to join them in undermining the very troops this bill should support. The safety of the men and women fighting in Iraq and the American public is not for sale and it is appalling that the Democrats have resorted to vote-buying in attempts to advance their agenda. It is even more appalling that some Members would sell their votes on this national defense issue for peanuts and spinach.”

 

###