House Debate Ends in Continuing Support for War in Iraq

WASHINGTON _ Following a day and a half of emotional debate, the House voted overwhelmingly Friday to affirm President Bush’s policies in the Iraq war and to reject a specific timetable for withdrawing American troops.

The vote was 256-153, with 42 Democrats joining 214 Republicans, to support a non-binding resolution that declared the war in Iraq is a central front in the war on terrorism.

With key elections determining control of Congress less than five months away, Republicans portrayed their Democratic counterparts as lacking the stomach to do what is necessary in Iraq to keep the terrorists at bay. Democrats, by contrast, said Republicans were blindly following a president who has been proven wrong time and time again.

“This week’s debate has given us all an opportunity to answer a fundamental question: Are we going to confront the threat of terrorism and defeat it, or will we relent and retreat in the hopes that it just goes away?” asked Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Achieving victory is our only option, for the sake of the American people and for our children and grandchildren.”

By contrast, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California mocked the resolution as “vacuous” and scoffed at the notion that lawmakers who voted against the measure were undermining the troops.

“Stay the course? I don’t think so Mr. President,” Pelosi said. “It’s time to face the facts. On every important aspect on the war in Iraq, the president and his advisers have been wrong.”

Republicans said it was significant that the final vote included so many Democrats.

“We are pleased that 42 Democrats defied their leadership and stood with House Republicans to support both our troops and their mission to win the global war on terror,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

But nearly twice as many Democrats voted for the original authorization of force in Iraq in 2002, a sharp erosion of support.

Not everyone thought it was worthwhile to hold a debate about an issue that is causing GOP lawmakers great difficulty with voters at home. According to the Gallup Organization, voters believe the Iraq war is the most important issue facing the nation.

Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., for example, repeatedly called the debate a “dumb idea” and did not participate. He said he didn’t believe people would change their mind about the war after listening.

“The same points were brought up by everybody,” LaHood said. “I don’t think it served any purpose except to pontificate about the war.”

Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., did not participate, either, saying he was busy with other issues.

“It was predictable,” Kirk said of the arguments, adding that “there are also a number of other things we need to debate.”

Three Republicans, John Duncan of Tennessee, Jim Leach of Iowa and Ron Paul of Texas, voted against the resolution, while Walter Jones of North Carolina and Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan voted present.

McCotter called the resolution “strategically nebulous, morally obtuse and woefully inadequate.” He also said it did nothing to provide the public an honest assessment of the “situation, stakes and strategy for victory in the battle for Iraq and the overarching war on terror.”

Of the lawmakers from Illinois, five Democrats voted against the resolution. Twelve lawmakers voted for the measure, including Democrats Melissa Bean, Jerry Costello and Daniel Lipinski. Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez did not vote.

Though their language was pointed and their positions firm, lawmakers managed to keep the debate civil despite complaints from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., about some Republicans taking a “sanctimonious” tone.

Murtha, a hawk on military issues who came to oppose the war in Iraq, said it is “easy to stay in an air-conditioned office and say I’m going to stay the course.”

“That’s why I get so upset when they stand here sanctimoniously and say we’re fighting this thing,” said Murtha, a decorated Marine. “It’s the troops that are doing the fighting.”

Rep. Dan Lundgren, R-Calif., insisted that he had the greatest respect for Murtha. “I don’t question your patriotism,” Lundgren said, adding that he was trying not to be sanctimonious.

It was last fall when Murtha announced that he believed the administration should begin planning to bring the troops out of Iraq. On the floor of the House, freshman Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, sparked chaos as she recounted a phone call she had just received from a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.

“He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message _ that cowards cut and run, Marines never do,” said Schmidt, as Democrats booed and shouted at her and Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., charged across the aisle.

This year, the debate did not prompt the same sort of acrimony, but each side accused the other of playing political games. In the Senate, Republicans sought to embarrass divided Democrats by offering Sen. John Kerry’s troop withdrawal amendment as their own. The amendment was rejected, 93-6.

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(c) 2006, Chicago Tribune.

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