By Jeff Leys
How much money is President Bush asking for in 2008?
President Bush and the military are seeking $145 billion to wage the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for Fiscal Year 2008. This fiscal year begins on October 1, 2007 and ends on September 30, 2008. He submitted this $145 billion request on February 5, 2007. $142 billion is for the military and $3 billion is for the State Department and other agencies.
When will Congress vote on this request?
The $145 billion war supplemental is already working its way through Congress. In May, 2007, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Defense Authorization Act and included full funding for the military portion of the request. The Senate should act upon its version of the Defense Authorization Act by the end of June. The Senate’s version, as written by the Armed Services Committee, authorizes $127 billion in Iraq – Afghanistan war spending (authorizing $4 billion less for personnel costs and $7.6 billion less for procurement costs than requested by the President). Then a House – Senate Conference Committee will hammer out the differences to produce a final version of the bill upon which both the House and the Senate will vote.
So…if the money is included in the Defense Authorization Act, doesn’t that mean that the war is already paid for in 2008?
No. The next step is for Congress to pass a bill that actually gives the Defense Department the ok to spend funds from the U.S. Treasury. An Authorization Act gives the ok for a program to exist and recommends funding levels. An Appropriations Act grants the power to actually spend the money. One way to think of this is that an authorization act is like opening up a bank account while an appropriations act says that you have the legal power to spend money from that bank account. Another way to look at it is that an authorization act is like telling a friend that you intend for him / her to be able to use money in your bank account. The appropriations act is you signing the paperwork at the bank making it legal for your friend to use money in the account.
When will the Defense Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 be voted on by Congress?
It’s difficult to know for certain. However, indications are that the House of Representatives will vote on its version of the Defense Appropriations Bill shortly after July 8th (following a week long recess). The House will almost certainly vote on the Defense Appropriations Act by the end of July. It is less certain when the Senate will vote on its version of the Defense Appropriations Act. It could act before August 6 (when Congress begins a month long recess) or it could act in early September (after returning from its recess). A House – Senate Conference Committee will then have to iron out differences between their two versions of the bill and submit that final version to a vote in both the House and the Senate. It is very possible that this will happen before the end of September (especially since the next fiscal year starts on October 1, 2007).
Will the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental be included in the 2008 Defense Appropriations bill?
Maybe. Maybe not. In 2005, Congress included $50 billion in the defense appropriations bill (to fund the war in 2006) and in 2006, Congress included $70 billion in the defense appropriations bill (to fund the war in 2007). It is possible that Congress will decide to include the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental in the defense appropriations bill again this year.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible that the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental will be considered as an entirely separate appropriations bill. There are strong indications that this will be the case, especially in the House of Representatives. On May 23, when the House passed the final version of the war supplemental for this year, both Representatives David Obey and John Murtha made strong statements on the House floor indicating that the next key votes on Iraq war funding will come in September. The full House also passed a rule governing debate on May’s supplemental bill that lays the foundation for a vote on the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental as an appropriations bill separate from the regular Defense Appropriations bill. It now appears likely that the vote on the 2008 war supplemental will take place sometime after General Petraeus reports to Congress on the progress (or lack thereof) being made in Iraq. This report is due by September 15.
Will anything be done about the Iraq war in July during the debate on the regular Defense Appropriations bill?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has indicated that she intends to allow a floor vote on H.R. 2450 as an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill. Introduced by Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California, H.R. 2450 would repeal the original war authorization bill that Congress passed in October of 2002.
It is also possible that the Appropriations could include some of the provisions promoted by Rep. John Murtha on such matters as military readiness standards; limiting the length of deployment to Iraq; and guaranteeing a minimum number of days (365 days in the Army) that a unit would be at its home base outside of Iraq prior to being redeployed back into Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has also indicated that he may schedule votes in the Senate on matters related to limiting U.S. troop deployments in Iraq. However, the substantive debate will likely take place in September when the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental will most likely be brought up to a vote in the House and Senate.
What is the report that General Petraeus is making to Congress in September?
The war supplemental passed in May requires that the President submit a preliminary report to Congress in July regarding progress (or lack thereof) that Iraq is making towards achieving the “benchmarks” which Congress included in the war supplemental. A second, final report is to be submitted to Congress on September 15.
The war supplemental requires that the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander of the Multinational Forces in Iraq provide testimony before relevant committees of Congress. This testimony is to be provided prior to the submission of the report on September 15. General Petraeus is currently the Commander of the Multinational Forces in Iraq (which consist of the military forces of the U.S. and allied countries with troops in Iraq).
In addition, the Comptroller General of the United States is required to submit to Congress a report that assesses whether or not Iraq has achieved the benchmarks established by Congress. This independent report is due by September 1.
Congress will most likely then move to act upon the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental sometime in September or, possibly, early October.
What is H.R. 2451 – The Obey – McGovern bill?
In May, the House of Representatives approved a resolution that set the terms of the debate on the Iraq war supplemental that was passed for this year. Contained within that House rule are at least part of the terms of the debate on the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental for 2008 (the $145 war supplemental that will be debated this fall). The rule and resolution state that one amendment and one amendment only will be permitted to be offered on the House floor to the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental this fall. That amendment is contained in H.R. 2451, sponsored by Reps. David Obey and James McGovern.
H.R. 2451 provides for the partial redeployment of U.S. military forces and defense contractors out of Iraq.
Within 90 days of passage of the act, the redeployment of U.S. military forces and defense contractors is to begin. This partial redeployment is to be competed by June 30, 2008.
What is meant by “partial redeployment”?
H.R. 2451 contains the following qualifying language on the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq, which makes it a partial redeployment:
“(d) Authority To Retain Armed Forces in Iraq for Limited Purposes- The Secretary of Defense may retain in Iraq members of the Armed Forces for the purpose of providing security for the United States Embassy and other United States diplomatic missions in Iraq; protecting American citizens, including members of the Armed Forces; serving in roles consistent with customary diplomatic positions; engaging in targeted special actions limited in duration and scope to killing or capturing members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with global reach; and training and equipping members of the Iraqi Security Forces. At the request of the Government of Iraq, the Secretary of Defense may retain in Iraq members of the Army Corps of Engineers and defense contractors engaged in reconstruction projects in Iraq, to the extent necessary to complete such projects.”
How many U.S. troops might remain in Iraq under the terms of H.R. 2451?
In March 2007, Erik Leaver of the Institute for Policy Studies examined language nearly identical to that contained in H.R. 2451. He estimated at that time that upwards of 40,000 to 60,000 U.S. troops might remain in Iraq under the terms of the language.
This includes: 10,000 to 20,000 to train Iraqi security forces; 15,000 to 20,000 troops for targeted “counter-terrorist” activities; and 5,000 to 20,000 troops for protection of the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic initiatives.
Leaver’s analysis is available at the IPS website
Is it possible that H.R. 2451 will be passed by the House of Representatives?
In May, the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 2237 introduced by Rep James McGovern. This bill was identical to H.R. 2451, except that since it would have become effective three months earlier, (in May or June 2007), the partial redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq would have been completed by March 2008.
171 Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 2237 in May. 255 Representatives voted against it. A bare majority vote in the House requires 218 votes, if all 435 Representatives cast a vote. Therefore, 47 more Representatives must be convinced to vote in favor of H.R. 2451 for it to be included as an amendment to the 2008 Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental. Of interest, 29 of the Representatives who voted in favor of the McGovern bill in May, fourteen days later voted in favor of the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental for 2007.
Wouldn’t it be a good thing if H.R. 2451 passes the House and is included in the 2008 Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental?
It would be very modest progress towards drawing down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. As discussed above, it would leave upwards of 40,000 to 60,000 troops in Iraq for an indefinite period. Depending upon how the bill’s phrasing “engaging in targeted special actions limited in duration and scope to killing or capturing members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with global reach” is defined and (perhaps more importantly) interpreted, the number of U.S. troops remaining in Iraq after the June 30, 2008 completion of the partial redeployment from Iraq could remain substantially higher than 60,000 troops.
Therefore, H.R. 2451 is not sufficient for ending the war in and occupation of Iraq. It allows for a draw down of U.S. troops but not an end of the occupation. The demand of the antiwar movement must remain—as always—the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Our goal, as this is written in June 2007, should be the completion of this complete withdrawal by December 31, 2007.
What can be done to defeat the 2008 Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental?
Congress will be in recess from August 6 to September 4. Plan now to go to your Representative’s and Senators’ offices to demand that they vote against any additional funding for the Iraq war. Visit their offices regardless of whether or not they agree to set up a meeting with you. If they hesitate to set up a meeting, tell the office the date that you and your colleagues will be there, show up and demand that they meet with you then and there. Be prepared to go on a daily or weekly basis to press the demand.
Starting August 6, the Occupation Project campaign will be launching a reinvigorated phase of the campaign. The Occupation Project is a campaign of nonviolent civil resistance / civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action focused upon Representatives and Senators who refuse to publicly commit to voting against any additional funding for the Iraq war. Launched on February 5, 2007, over the next 10 weeks over 320 arrests occurred in the offices of 39 Reps and Senators in a sustained campaign of civil disobedience nationwide. 15 of these Reps and Senators voted against the final version of the Iraq war supplemental in May of this year (14 of the 15 had voted in favor of the war supplemental in 2006). During this same period, sustained office occupations that did not result in arrests occurred on a weekly and daily basis in such diverse places as Tennessee, California, Washington and Huntsville, Alabama. Local Occupation Project campaigns took place from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and from Fairbanks, Alaska to Huntsville, Alabama.
Become involved with the Occupation Project campaign by visiting the campaign’s website at www.occupationproject.org; by emailing the campaign at occupationproject@vcnv.org; or by calling Voices for Creative Nonviolence at 773-878-3815.
The Occupation Project is initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Other national organizations which are actively organizing with the Occupation Project include: CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Declaration of Peace, Grassroots America for Us, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space and National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance.
Declaration of Peace is organizing the “Days of Decision” campaign which will concentrate upon the week of September 14 to 21, 2007. This will be a week of decentralized, nationwide, coordinated and dramatic nonviolent actions in every Congressional District in the U.S. to defund the U.S. war in Iraq and to establish a comprehensive peace plan.
The Occupation Project, the Declaration of Peace and NCNR are working in conjunction with each other and aim to augment each other’s strengths. The coming weeks are critical for efforts to end the Iraq war and fulfill our obligations to the Iraqi people.