Stupid question, why didn't they just insert the Levin/Reed amendment in committee?

[Hippo_Tron]

Or insert it in the House version. Then the Republicans would have to filibuster the entire 2008 defense budget to prevent this from passing. Meanwhile, we bombard the airwaves with television ads saying that Republicans don't want to fund the military because they hate our troops and want to leave us vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Basically, why aren't we doing things the way they did when they were in charge?