House Approves $59 Billion for Afghan War (The Wall Street Journal) 7/28/10
By NAFTALI BENDAVID
WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved $59 billion to fund the Afghan war and other emergency spending, sending the bill to President Barack Obama's desk after brushing aside revelations contained in a cache of leaked military documents.
The war's unusual politics were reflected in the 308-114 vote. While 102 Democrats defected, objecting to a war prosecuted by a president of their own party, 160 Republicans supported the measure despite their frequent opposition to Mr. Obama's policies.
Reuters
U.S. Army soldiers brace Tuesday as an Afghan soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade north of Kandahar.
The debate was colored by Sunday's release of 92,000 documents by the group WikiLeaks, but it didn't appear to affect the outcome. The leaked military incident reports were raised only occasionally by anti-war lawmakers. Democrats and a handful of Republicans had been souring on the White House's Afghan policy for months. Some lawmakers said the documents could accelerate that erosion of support in the longer term.
In a measure of the debate's topsy-turvy nature, Rep. David Obey (D., Wisc.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and the Democrats' point man on the bill, told his colleagues he could not support it.
"The Afghan government has not demonstrated the focused determination, reliability and judgment necessary to bring this effort to a rational and successful conclusion," Mr. Obey said. "I cannot look my constituents in the eye and say that this operation will hurt our enemies more than us."
Top Republicans supported the bill and blamed Democrats for not passing it sooner. House Democrats initially added $20 billion in domestic spending to the legislation, but the Senate stripped it out, a process that took several weeks.
"The delay in passing this legislation was caused by one thing and only one thing—the House Democratic majority's continuing and unwavering appetite for spending," said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R., Calif.), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee.
While some Democrats stressed the urgent need to fund the troops, others made impassioned anti-war speeches, saying the country should be addressing pressing needs at home rather than a futile conflict thousands of miles away.
"Congress cannot continue to write a blank check for a war in Afghanistan that has ultimately made our county less safe," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.
Later in the day, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio), forging an alliance with Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas), offered a resolution ordering Mr. Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Pakistan, which failed by a 38-372 margin.
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