House to Vote Today on New Iraq Bill

By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON – House members will vote Thursday on a new Iraq bill hotly contested by the White House, opposed by nearly all Republicans and unlikely to survive in the Senate.

The bill would provide the military with $42.8 billion to keep operations going through July, buy equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Congress would decide shortly before its August recess whether to release an additional $52.8 billion for war spending through September.

Of the dozen or so members in Congress attempting to strike a bipartisan compromise on the war, few have come forward with concrete plans – perhaps out of reluctance to champion a proposal until they know it can succeed. None of the proposals put in plain view have picked up steam.

"We’ll see what happens," said Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Ala. "A lot of us are coming together across the aisle. We’re under the radar now, but we’re meeting."

"The president refuses to listen to the American people who want this war to end," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

House Democratic leaders say the legislation once again has united Democrats in challenging Bush on the war. While this may be true, it has not attracted enough Republicans to override a second veto and has raised doubts among Senate Democrats.

"Enough is enough," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "It is time to get a clean bill to the president’s desk and really support our troops."

Three Republicans – Reps. Frank Wolf of Virginia, Michael McCaul of Texas and Mark Udall of Colorado – circulated a letter Wednesday urging their colleagues to co-sponsor legislation that would put in place recommendations from the independent Iraq Study Group.

One of the 79 suggestions from the bipartisan group in December was reducing U.S. "political, military or economic support" for Iraq if the Baghdad government could not make substantial progress toward providing for the country’s security. The report suggested an urgent diplomatic attempt to stabilize Iraq and allow the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008.

"When the country is together, we are strong and can respond to our problems effectively," the three House Republicans wrote. "The more we are divided, the harder this becomes."

At the White House, 11 moderate House Republicans met with the president and top aides Tuesday. Several participants at the meeting, disclosed Wednesday, described a remarkably blunt discussion in which lawmakers told the president that the war was unsustainable without public support and that it was having a corrosive effect on GOP political fortunes.

"We asked them what’s Plan B," said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia. "We let them know that the status quo is not acceptable." Davis said the president responded that if he began discussing a new strategy, his current one never would have a chance to succeed.

Several GOP senators sought to find their own solution.

Last week, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., raised hopes when he said he had an idea that had enough support to override a veto. Warner said his proposal would pressure the Iraqi government to take more initiative on political and security reforms. He declined to offer more specifics.

On Wednesday, Warner said he was reassessing in light of the new House proposal.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Sununu, R-N.H., said they are open to considering conditions on foreign aid to Iraq if the Baghdad government fails to meet certain benchmarks.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said he agrees that withholding reconstruction money is a good idea. But he thinks the president should be the one to do it based on a White House review of progress reports.