Rep. Tanner seeks to build bipartisan coalition on Iraq

Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) said that centrists from both parties working together can boost Congress’s role on the debate about Iraq.
“I think Congress has a role to play, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Congress,” Tanner said in an interview. “Congress has pretty much been shut out.”

{mosads}Tanner has been the less vocal Democratic partner, along with Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) in an effort to build bipartisan consensus in the House on Iraq. That effort has gained currency now that Republican support for the war failed to crumble as predicted earlier this summer.

Tanner has joined with centrist Republican Mike Castle of Delaware and other Republicans to talk about bipartisan options. Castle, Tanner and others were to meet Monday night to plan their next step.

They’ve also talked with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the leadership’s ambassador to centrists and Blue Dogs, about a meeting with Republicans. Tanner also said he’d like to have discussions with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
In the interview, Tanner didn’t want to predict what would happen next.

“If we get to ‘A,’ then we’ll think about ‘B,’” he said. “Then if we get to ‘B,’ we’ll think about ‘C.’”

Their main legislative vehicle is a bill that’s come to be known as “Abercrombie-Tanner.” Modest in scope, some say too modest, it orders President Bush to report on his administration’s planning for withdrawal. It does not require him to implement withdrawal or even to have plans.

It has three Republicans, Castle, Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) and Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) as cosponsors. It was also voted out of the Armed Services Committee in July with only two Republican opponents.

Tanner said the Armed Services Committee and the sponsors of the bill form the core of his efforts with Castle and Abercrombie.

But the bill has come under intense criticism from the party’s liberal wing. The leaders of the Out of Iraq Caucus blocked consideration of the bill before the August recess, calling it backsliding.

A contributing editor of the DailyKos website, an important component of the “netroots,” initiated a call-in campaign against the bill. The site dubbed supporters of the bill “The Capitulation Caucus.”