Pelosi lines up Iraq votes

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-lines-up-iraq-votes-2007-07-10.html

Pelosi lines up Iraq votes
By Mike Soraghan and Jackie Kucinich
July 10, 2007

House Democrats are planning a series of votes this month on Iraq that they hope will ratchet up pressure on the White House and congressional Republicans to change course on the unpopular war or suffer political consequences.

Sensing that additional GOP members might follow the more skeptical path taken recently by Sens. Richard Lugar (Ind.) and Pete Domenici (N.M.) and Rep. John Doolittle (Calif.), Democratic leaders have decided to ignore White House requests that lawmakers wait until September to see how President Bush’s surge works.

“I think you’re seeing signs that the dam’s about to bust,” said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), tapped as leadership’s coordinator for Iraq strategy. “Someone on the Republican side has to be like Fulbright during the Vietnam War.”

Sen. William Fulbright’s criticism helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War in part because it came from President Lyndon Johnson’s own party.

The first votes in what Pelosi’s office termed “a month of action in Congress to end the war” could start as early as this week. Likely topics include legislation banning permanent bases in Iraq and cracking down on what Democrats call “war profiteering.” In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last month announced withdrawal legislation to “redeploy” troops by next spring.

The House will then take up the defense appropriations bill at the end of July, which could spark a flurry of additional Iraq votes right before lawmakers head home for the long August break.

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[rusty charly]

1. I think it's going to be hard to whip up a lot of people 'round these parts...

... until something concrete happens now. We went down this road already and they didn't hold.