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House of Reps Stands Up to Bush Veto |
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House of Reps Stands Up to Bush Veto »
NJ Senators Vote to End the War,
House of Reps Stands Up to Bush Veto
On May 16, 2007 New Jersey's two senators Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez joined 27 other Senators to vote for the Feingold-Reid amendment to withdraw US troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008.
Senator Menendez was also one of only 9 Senators to vote against an amendment that calls upon the Senate to complete a war funding bill by May 28, 2007.
Thanks to our Senators for standing up for peace, and especially Senator Menendez for his courageous vote against the unnecessarily tight deadline for a spending bill!
And thanks to everyone who made phone calls in support of the Feingold amendment!
For details about the amendments and the votes click HERE.
MoveOn targets Senator Levin for voting against the Feingold amendment.
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HOUSE RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT'S VETO
On May 10, 2007, the House voted to provide only 2-3 months of Iraq war funding requested by President Bush and mandated another vote in July on whether to allocate all funds toward withdrawal of US troops in 180 days.
The bill, HR 2206 was approved 221-205 with both Congressman Payne and Pascrell voting YES. Congressman John Murtha was one of the primary authors of the bill. The bill would provide $42.8 billion in immediate funds but would require President Bush to report to Congress on numerous benchmarks in July, followed by a vote by Congress on whether to allocate all funds to withdrawal, before the remaining $52.8 billion requested would be released. Bush has promised to veto the bill.
Just prior to passage of HR 2206, the House voted down HR 2237 introduced by Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts. This bill would have withdrawn all US troops and defense contractors (with some exceptions) within 180 days. The vote was 171 for and 255 against. This is the strongest bill to end the war voted on in Congress and the size of the yes vote is extremely encouraging. Congressmen Payne and Pascrell also voted YES on this bill as well.
The focus on ending the war now returns to the Senate. New Jersey's senators have received our 1,337 signatures urging them to insist that a withdrawal timetable be included in any supplemental funding bill. In my opinion, our most effective approach would be to ask our Senators to promote a bill equivalent to House 2206 that would require a vote on a 180-day withdrawal timetable in July.
Please call our senators and let them know what you think:
Senator Menendez (202) 224-4744
Senator Lautenberg (202) 224-3224
And you can call Congressmen Payne and Pascrell at:
Congressman Pascrell (202) 225-5751
Congressman Payne (202) 225-3436