Dems split on Iraq bill strategies

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus, is vowing to use the appropriations process to force lawmakers to vote on separate parts of a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus, is vowing to use the appropriations process to force lawmakers to vote on separate parts of a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq.

The resolution would pay Iraqis reparations of up to $10,000 for damages caused by the war if they made claims; ban American firms from pumping oil in Iraq; cut off funds to build long-term bases in Iraq; pay for the destruction of landmines; and create a House-Senate select committee to study the origins of the war in Iraq.

Lee and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), the other co-chair of the House Democratic Progressive Caucus, introduced H.R. 508, and they have signed up 28 co-sponsors. Woolsey says she plans to meet next week with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) to ensure the resolution is considered in committee.

“I want to see this move very quickly,” Lee said.

The start of the appropriations process would be a “turning point” in the debate on Iraq, said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a vocal opponent of the war who is running for president.

Meanwhile, debate in the House is shaping up to be just as contentious as it was in the Senate, where lawmakers are considering six resolutions with varying degrees of opposition to President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 more soldiers to Iraq.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has let it be known that she is leaning toward a resolution similar to Sen. John Warner’s (R-Va.) bill, said a member of the Democratic leadership. Warner’s resolution states that the Senate disagrees with Bush’s plan to add the soldiers and to come up with “benchmarks” to measure progress so that American forces can leave “expeditiously.”

“I think she would like to support a bipartisan resolution that has passed the Senate and is critical of the escalation,” said a senior Democratic leadership aide.

Finally, the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative, mostly Southern Democrats, introduced a resolution last week that would create an independent committee modeled on the Truman Committee of World War II to study waste and fraud in government contracting and require the Bush administration to submit quarterly reports on spending in Iraq. The resolution also would ban the administration from using supplemental spending bills to pay for the war.

But the Blue Dogs’ bill does not call for a redeployment or withdrawal of forces. Instead, the non-binding legislation asks that the Bush administration “condition further American financial, military and political resources upon steady improvement in Iraqi assumption of principal responsibility for internally policing Iraq.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has proposed that Democrats put together a resolution based on President Bush’s words in a speech before the State of the Union Address, and thus force Republican lawmakers either to endorse the “surge” or openly repudiate the president’s policy.

If Woolsey’s resolution is not considered in committee, it is unlikely that members would have a chance to vote on it on the House floor. The more liberal House Democrats believe that if they don’t act quickly and decisively to express their opposition to the Iraq war, they will alienate voters on the biggest issue that propelled them into office.

“Whether we recognize it or not, this Democratic Congress is the House that Iraq built. The Democratic Party will rise or fall on whether we keep faith with the American people,” said Kucinich.

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.), like many freshman Democrats, campaigned against the war in Iraq and called for a redeployment of troops. She said she would sign on to all the Democratic resolutions and support the strongest one offered.

Asked why the House is waiting for the Senate to finish considering as many as six non-binding resolutions, Woolsey rolled her eyes.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), leader of the Out of Iraq Caucus, said her goal was “to keep [Iraq] on the radar screen and keep a discussion going.”

But she also was dismayed by the need to voice strong opposition even after the Democrats had taken control of Congress.