Progressive Democrats Aim to Cut Iraq War Funding
    By Matt Renner
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Thursday 08 February 2007

    The Congressional Progressive Caucus is leading the Democratic effort in the House to stop the president's escalation plan in its tracks and bring US Troops home within the year.

    The co-chairs of the 71-member Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), have pushed a plan into the forefront as Congressional debate on Iraq accelerates. With Republicans blocking debate in the Senate, debate on Iraq policy in the House will take center stage.

    The plan calls for a six-month deadline for all US troops and military contractors to be withdrawn from Iraq. The withdrawal would be fully funded, and the training and equipping of Iraqi forces would continue during the withdrawal. The plan also calls for the turnover of all US military bases in Iraq to Iraqi forces.

    In a statement issued Wednesday, Lee and Woolsey explained the urgency of the situation.

    "Over the last four years, the insurgency in Iraq has strengthened, and sectarian violence has increased. Furthermore, the current situation on the ground in Iraq is grave and rapidly deteriorating. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has determined accordingly that a predominantly military approach is no longer a viable solution to stabilizing Iraq."

    Last month, Woolsey, Lee, and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that went far beyond the flurry of non-binding bipartisan resolutions passed by lawmakers calling for Bush to put the brakes on his plan to send additional troops to Iraq. The legislation would have:

• Prohibited any permanent US military bases in Iraq
  
  
• Accelerated funding for military/contractor training of Iraqi forces
  
  
• Authorized a wide array of non-military US bilateral and multilateral assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq
  
  
• Prohibited US access to Iraqi oil production prior to the Iraqi government establishing clear rules for foreign ownership and participation
  
  
• Guaranteed health care for US veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts
  
  
• Created a bipartisan joint committee to investigate the process by which the US was led into war under false pretenses and make recommendations on how such a situation can be prevented in the future.

    The legislation, however, never got off the ground.

    Still, the Democratic Caucus said despite overwhelming public opposition and a lack of support from Democrats and Republicans to a troop increase, President Bush has forced Democrats to take dramatic measures in hopes of stopping the president's plan.

    "The president has left the Congress few alternatives other than to use the power of purse spelled out in Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution to curtail US military operations in Iraq."

    Historically, Congress has used this constitutional power to restrict funds to end US Military actions in Somalia in 1993 and Vietnam in 1973. The Woolsey/Lee bill, HR 508, The Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act, would block allocation of funds for the Iraq occupation.

    An additional avenue to end the occupation has been pursued by Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) to rescind the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, forcing the president to return to Congress to ask for new authorization. This strategy was attempted by the Republican leadership in Congress during the military action in Kosovo, but was not successful. The CPC has endorsed Farr's efforts.

    Bush's steadfast refusal to even consider something other than a full-scale escalation of the Iraq War, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, will set the stage for a showdown between the executive branch and Congress, and will likely result in a spirited debate about the extent of presidential power.

    Some highly regarded constitutional scholars have said that if President Bush sends additional US troops into Iraq, he can only do so for a maximum of 90 days under the War Powers Act of 1973, which states the president must notify Congress within 48 after he sends troops into combat.

    "This is a situation the War Powers Act was intended to deal with," said Francis Boyle, a University of Illinois law professor, and a vocal critic of the administration's policies.

    After Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Act to close loopholes that were exploited by President Johnson to escalate US involvement in Vietnam without Congressional approval.

    Ohio State law professor John Quigley agreed.

    "If President Bush wants to send more troops, he is subject to the War Powers Resolution, which allows him to commit troops for only 60 days without an authorizing resolution from Congress," Quigley said.

    Dennis Johnson, writing in the Ohio State University Journal of Politics in the Fall of 2001 describes the eerily similar parallels between the Vietnam and Iraq wars, specifically, the pubic debate about escalating the conflict, which gave birth to the War Powers Act.

    "During the Vietnam War, the ignorance by the executive of the constitutional right of Congress to declare war became a hotly debated issue in both the House and Senate," Johnson wrote. "After reaching a compromise between themselves, and overriding a presidential veto, the Congress successfully gave birth to the War Powers Resolution. This new law would allow the president a 60-day executive war, and gave Congress the privileges of consultation and reporting, and reinstated their right to declare war.

    Boyle and Quigley have called on Congress to force the president to abide by the act after he sends additional troops into combat.

    The mounting violence and anarchy on the streets of Iraq and the political pressure being applied domestically by peace activists may push more members of Congress to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus's call for a deadline for the occupation, caucus members said.