The House Appropriations Committee seems to be concerned that Democrats are losing the debate over whether to fund the war on terror. To bolster the Democrats’ argument, they’ve decided to ‘set the record straight’ with this one-page document. It says (in part):
Last week the House of Representatives passed a $50 billion supplemental to fund the war, but the President has threatened to veto it and his allies in the Senate are filibustering it. This bill includes reasonable provisions to protect our troops. • It requires that troops be fully trained and fully equipped. • It requires all government employees to follow the Army Field Manual rules prohibiting torture. • It requires the President have a plan for bringing our troops home by December of 2008. The Department of Defense could have full access to these funds very quickly. All the President has to do is call his allies in the Senate and ask them to release the bill.
But the legislation doesn’t require the president to ‘have a plan for bringing our troops home.’ It requires that he begin redeployment within 30 days, that he regularly update Congress on how the redeployment is proceeding, and that he implement a plan to bring stability to Iraq in conjunction with ‘Iraq’s neighbors and the international community.’ It also dramatically limits the range of operations the U.S. may conduct in Iraq. Here’s a portion of the relevant text:
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