Pelosi schedules vote on GOP-backed Iraq measure

The House will vote Tuesday on an Iraq withdrawal measure that has Republican support but has split the Democratic Caucus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday.

{mosads}The bill, authored by Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.), would require President Bush to report regularly on his administration’s withdrawal plans.

“In the House, we’ll always strive for bipartisanship,” on the Iraq issue, Pelosi told reporters at what was billed as the first of a series of weekly news conferences.

But the Speaker said she is frustrated that the Senate has failed to allow votes on measures like requiring the Pentagon to provide more training and time at home for troops repeatedly deployed to Iraq.

“No longer will we confine our aspirations to what can get past the 60-vote margin in the Senate,” Pelosi said.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said this week he saw no reason for Republicans to vote against the Tanner-Abercrombie legislation. But liberal Democrats such as Rep. Lynn Woolsey (Calif.) have fought against bringing the bill to the floor, saying it will give political cover to Republicans.

Woolsey and her fellow founders of the Out of Iraq caucus blocked the bill from coming to the floor in the final days before the August recess. In an Iraq strategy meeting Thursday, tensions rose when Abercrombie told Woolsey that if she did not like it she should “vote against the goddamned bill.”

Pelosi said the House will also vote on a measure by Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) intended to rein in contractors in Iraq, such as Blackwater USA. The measure would make such contractors subject to U.S. criminal law.

In addition, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is working on a bill to strengthen the oversight role of executive branch inspectors general in foreign conflict zones. Pelosi noted that while there is an inspector general for Iraq, there is not one for Afghanistan.

Pelosi also said she wants the House Appropriations Committee to “scrub” President Bush’s nearly $200 billion supplemental Iraq request before it will be approved. Some members and aides have indicated the bill might not come to the floor until next year, but Pelosi did not set a date.

At her news conference, Pelosi also:

– Said she expects that an energy bill will come back to the House floor before the lower chamber adjourns for the session.

– Stressed her support for opposition protesters in Burma, and said she wants the House to vote on resolutions condemning the military regime’s use of force to suppress the protests.

– Indicated she might call President Bush on Friday to tell him “there are 10 million reasons” not to veto a Democratic children’s health insurance bill intended to provide insurance to 10 million children.