lily
01-08-2007, 12:01 AM
Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16514679/)
Pelosi hints at House challenge to ‘troop surge’
New Speaker says Democrats might deny funding if Bush seeks increase
Updated: 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Democrats now running Congress will not give President Bush a
blank check to wage war in Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday,
suggesting they could deny him the money should he call for additional
troops.
Yet Pelosi’s second-in-command and a Senate leader on foreign affairs
questioned the wisdom and legality of using the power of the purse to thwart
the White House as Bush prepared to announce his revised war strategy this
week — perhaps on Wednesday.
Republicans, now in the minority, said more troops were needed to get a
handle on the spiraling violence in Iraq. They also cast doubt whether
Democrats would — or could — block the president’s plans. “Congress is
incapable of micromanaging the tactics in the war,” said Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Pelosi made clear that her party supported boosting the overall size of the
military “to protect the American people against any threats to our
interests, wherever they may occur. That’s different, though, from adding
troops to Iraq.” She also said Democrats would not cut off money for those
troops already in Iraq.
‘The burden is on the president’
But dollars for a further buildup in Iraq — Bush’s expected plan could send
as many as 20,000 additional U.S. troops — will get the strictest of
scrutiny, she said.
“The burden is on the president to justify any additional resources for a
mission,” said Pelosi, D-Calif. “Congress is ready to use its constitutional
authority of oversight to question what is the justification for this
spending, what are the results we are receiving.”
“There’s not a carte blanche, a blank check for him to do whatever he wishes
there,” she added in an interview taped Saturday and broadcast Sunday.
Asked about Pelosi’s remarks, White House spokesman Alex Conant said Bush
welcomed any ideas on Iraq that “lead to success.”
“We’re glad the speaker wants us to succeed in Iraq,” he said.
Bush was putting the finishing touches on his new policy over the weekend.
In addition to the troop increase, it could provide more money for jobs and
reconstruction programs in Iraq.
$500 billion OKd, $100 billion requested
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has approved about $500
billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and other terrorism-fighting efforts. The
White House is working on its largest-ever appeal for more war funds — a
record $100 billion, at least. It will be submitted along with Bush’s Feb. 5
budget.
While leading Democrats reaffirmed their opposition to a troop buildup,
several did not join Pelosi in suggesting it was possible Congress could
deny Bush the money for the additional forces.
“I don’t want to anticipate that,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,
D-Md.
Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a
2008 presidential candidate, said increasing troops would be a “tragic
mistake.” But he contended Congress was constitutionally powerless to
second-guess Bush’s military strategy because lawmakers had voted to
authorize the commander in chief to wage war.
“As a practical matter, there’s no way to say, ‘Mr. President, stop,”’ Biden
said, unless enough congressional Republicans join Democrats in persuading
Bush that the strategy is wrong. “You can’t go in and, like a Tinkertoy, and
play around and say, ‘You can’t spend the money on this piece and this
piece.”’
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Bush in a letter
last week that Democrats oppose additional U.S. forces in Iraq and want him
to begin withdrawing in four months to six months American troops already
there.
Pelosi hints at House challenge to ‘troop surge’
New Speaker says Democrats might deny funding if Bush seeks increase
Updated: 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Democrats now running Congress will not give President Bush a
blank check to wage war in Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday,
suggesting they could deny him the money should he call for additional
troops.
Yet Pelosi’s second-in-command and a Senate leader on foreign affairs
questioned the wisdom and legality of using the power of the purse to thwart
the White House as Bush prepared to announce his revised war strategy this
week — perhaps on Wednesday.
Republicans, now in the minority, said more troops were needed to get a
handle on the spiraling violence in Iraq. They also cast doubt whether
Democrats would — or could — block the president’s plans. “Congress is
incapable of micromanaging the tactics in the war,” said Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Pelosi made clear that her party supported boosting the overall size of the
military “to protect the American people against any threats to our
interests, wherever they may occur. That’s different, though, from adding
troops to Iraq.” She also said Democrats would not cut off money for those
troops already in Iraq.
‘The burden is on the president’
But dollars for a further buildup in Iraq — Bush’s expected plan could send
as many as 20,000 additional U.S. troops — will get the strictest of
scrutiny, she said.
“The burden is on the president to justify any additional resources for a
mission,” said Pelosi, D-Calif. “Congress is ready to use its constitutional
authority of oversight to question what is the justification for this
spending, what are the results we are receiving.”
“There’s not a carte blanche, a blank check for him to do whatever he wishes
there,” she added in an interview taped Saturday and broadcast Sunday.
Asked about Pelosi’s remarks, White House spokesman Alex Conant said Bush
welcomed any ideas on Iraq that “lead to success.”
“We’re glad the speaker wants us to succeed in Iraq,” he said.
Bush was putting the finishing touches on his new policy over the weekend.
In addition to the troop increase, it could provide more money for jobs and
reconstruction programs in Iraq.
$500 billion OKd, $100 billion requested
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has approved about $500
billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and other terrorism-fighting efforts. The
White House is working on its largest-ever appeal for more war funds — a
record $100 billion, at least. It will be submitted along with Bush’s Feb. 5
budget.
While leading Democrats reaffirmed their opposition to a troop buildup,
several did not join Pelosi in suggesting it was possible Congress could
deny Bush the money for the additional forces.
“I don’t want to anticipate that,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,
D-Md.
Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a
2008 presidential candidate, said increasing troops would be a “tragic
mistake.” But he contended Congress was constitutionally powerless to
second-guess Bush’s military strategy because lawmakers had voted to
authorize the commander in chief to wage war.
“As a practical matter, there’s no way to say, ‘Mr. President, stop,”’ Biden
said, unless enough congressional Republicans join Democrats in persuading
Bush that the strategy is wrong. “You can’t go in and, like a Tinkertoy, and
play around and say, ‘You can’t spend the money on this piece and this
piece.”’
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Bush in a letter
last week that Democrats oppose additional U.S. forces in Iraq and want him
to begin withdrawing in four months to six months American troops already
there.