Reid says he and McConnell will soon collaborate on war-funding bill

After the Senate votes today on two non-binding Iraq withdrawal measures, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will collaborate on a new war supplemental to begin conference talks quickly with the House, Reid said yesterday.

“I think we will get a bill to the president … with Republican and Democratic votes,” Reid told reporters.

{mosads}That goal of a bipartisan Senate supplemental signals that no troop withdrawal dates will make it into the bill heading into conference with the House. Withdrawal provisions would likely prevent McConnell and Republicans from backing the supplemental even as a placeholder.

However, the outcome of today’s two Iraq votes allows Senate Democrats to head into conference talks with the views of their caucus on record, meaning that the Reid-McConnell supplemental may bear little resemblance to the conference report that Democrats still aim to send to President Bush before Memorial Day.

Aiming to give Democrats a chance to air their views on the war, Reid initiated votes on two Iraq options that will be procedurally removed from the water-resources bill before its final passage. The first option adds waivers to the Senate’s first supplemental spending bill; the second calls for most troops to leave Iraq within a year.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a cosponsor of the stronger second option, has challenged his Democratic White House rivals to join him. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced yesterday he would vote for both Iraq measures as a way of warning the Iraq government — not because he supports the stronger option.

Reid also hinted that a deal may be near on the minimum-wage hike, once considered a must-pass before it became a casualty of the delayed supplemental talks. Reid told reporters he has spoken with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the minimum-wage issue and that it is “basically resolved.”