Withdrawal Timetable Defeated in the Senate

Despite the threat of a veto, withdrawal legislation moved forward in the House Thursday. Meanwhile, in the Senate, a weaker measure was successfully opposed by all but one Republican, two Democrats and Joe Lieberman.

Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Barbara Lee voted against the House bill because, she said, the proposed withdrawal would not take place soon enough.

AP via CNN:

Democrats aggressively challenged President Bush’s Iraq policy at both ends of the Capitol on Thursday, gaining House committee approval for a troop withdrawal deadline of September 1, 2008, but suffering defeat in the Senate on a less sweeping plan to end U.S. participation in the war.

Anti-war Democrats prevailed on a near-party line vote of 36-28 in the House Appropriations Committee, brushing aside a week-old veto threat from the administration and overcoming unyielding opposition from Republicans.

“I want this war to end. I don’t want to go to any more funerals,” said New York Rep. Jose Serrano, one of several liberal Democrats who have pledged their support for the legislation despite preferring a faster end to the war.

“Nobody wants our troops out of Iraq more than I do,” countered Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida, who sought to scuttle the timeline for a troop withdrawal. “But we can’t afford to turn over Iraq to al Qaeda.”

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