Debate erupts over Iraqi amnesty plan that may cover those involved in attacks on U.S. troops

Media release

June 15, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Florida’s U.S. Senator Bill Nelson today proposed an amendment to a defense spending bill opposing a possible provision in an Iraqi national reconciliation plan that would pardon attacks on U.S. military. But Republican Senate leaders blocked a vote on the measure.

Nelson’s measure urged President Bush to immediately notify Iraq’s new government that America “strongly opposes granting amnesty to persons who have attacked members of the armed forces of the United States.”

Said Nelson, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who sponsored the anti-amnesty resolution with Senator Robert Menendez, of New Jersey: “Terrorists and insurgents shouldn’t be rewarded for killing American soldiers.”

The Iraq reconciliation plan, intended for release in days, is likely to include amnesty for those who have attacked U.S. troops, according to today’s editions of The Washington Post. The Post quoted Iraq’s prime minister as saying the plan could include amnesty for those “who weren’t involved in the shedding of Iraqi blood” and for “armed men who opposed the political process and now want to turn back to political activity.”

Nelson’s resolution touched off several hours of heated debate on the Senate floor covering much of Thursday afternoon, with Republican leaders delaying a vote until at least next week. And White House spokesman Tony Snow declined to answer reporters’ questions about whether the president would support an amnesty offer to someone who participated in an attack on U.S. troops. “I’m sure we’ll express our opinions, but we also recognize that it’s theirs to do,” Snow said at a White House press briefing.

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