The week, the House considered a $183.7 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill in three parts: first, an amendment which would have funded $96.6 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for FY08, and $65.9 billion for part of FY09; second, an amendment which included a litany of Iraq war policy provisions; and third, an amendment which funded a limited number of important domestic and humanitarian priorities.

No on Additional Iraq War Funding

I have heard and read the frustrated thoughts of many of my constituents who are simply tired of President Bush’s war. I took a clear position on this issue - I voted against continuing to fund this open ended war, along with 148 of my colleagues in the House. The same cannot be said for the two-thirds of Republican Members – who refused to cast a yes or no vote on this very clear issue and instead voted ‘present.’ They failed to take a stand on this critically important matter.

This sends a message to President Bush that Congress will no longer give him a blank check to continue the war he started. It also indicates the confusion and disarray within the Republican Party, as they have traditionally supported fully funding the Iraq war.

Timelines for Progress in Iraq

I am proud that the House passed the 2 nd amendment to the appropriations bill, which outlined a number of policies that the President must follow with regards to the war.

The amendment calls for the responsible redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq and requires the Iraqi people to invest in the reconstruction of their country. It also includes a non binding requirement that troops begin to withdraw from Iraq within 30 days of the proposal becoming law, with a goal of completing withdrawal by December 2009.

The successful change in policy that this amendment represents is something that I, as a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus who has vehemently opposed this war from its beginning, am extremely supportive of.

More Funding for Domestic Priorities

Included in the 3rd amendment was funding for important domestic and humanitarian priorities, which I strongly supported and which also passed the House.

This domestic measure included a new GI bill to restore full, four-year college scholarships to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to help make them part of an economic recovery like the veterans of World War II. House Republicans voted against the creation of the new GI bill.

It also included an extension of unemployment insurance benefits. The number of Americans looking for work has grown by 800,000 over the last year, and the number of American jobs has declined by 260,000 since the beginning of 2008. Both of these measures are beneficial to our country, extraordinarily meaningful to our veterans, and the help address the current economic struggle we face.

The fate of the supplemental appropriations bill now remains with the Senate. You can be sure that should these spending priorities come back to the House for a vote, I will continue to fight to fund our nation’s most urgent priorities and to bring an end to the war in Iraq.