Both sides stick to their guns after Iraq meeting

After a White House meeting Wednesday on Iraq, Democratic and Republican leaders said they are willing to work together on a new funding bill, but also remained committed to their respective goals.

“We made our position clear; [the president] made his position clear,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. “Now it is time for us to try to work together, to come together. But make no mistake: Democrats are committed to ending this war, and we hope to do so in unison with the president of the United States.”

{mosads}“I've made it clear that we need a clean bill,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said. “We need a bill that allows our troops to be funded, allows them to do their work, and allows them to continue to try to achieve victory in Iraq.”

Following the president’s veto of the supplemental war-funding bill, Boehner stressed that “it’s time for us to put our differences aside and to begin to look for common ground.”

Both parties stressed that there were no tense moments in the meeting. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he thought “the spirit in the room was good,” while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added that “the tone of this meeting was positive.” 

Reid remained stalwart that the Democrats will fight to end the war.

“We believe that is our mission, our goal, certainly our passion, to do whatever we can to transition the mission in Iraq and end this war,” Reid said.