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Senate Republicans yesterday dealt a blow to a bipartisan resolution opposing a troop build-up in Iraq. Nearly every GOP senator, including the resolution's chief sponsor, voted to block a full-fledged debate on the measure. It was a victory for the White House, which strongly opposes the resolution, though Democrats vow a debate on Iraq is inevitable.
NPR's David Welna reports.
DAVID WELNA: President Bush's Republican Senate allies had some contradictory massages yesterday about the anti-troop increase resolution sponsored by fellow Republican John Warner. On the one hand, they said, it doesn't matter, and on the other, it does matter. Here's the Senate's number two Republican, Trent Lott.
Senator TRENT LOTT (Republican, Mississippi): Look, this is all show-and-tell about nothing. Because it's not binding, it is the worst of all worlds in terms of our allies and our enemies and we should not be doing this. But at the very minimum, we ought to have a clear, direct up or down vote on do we support funds for the troops or not?
WELNA: In fact, Democratic leaders had offered Republicans an up or down vote on just such a resolution. But they balked when GOP leaders insisted that any resolution passed by the Senate had to pass by a 60-vote super majority. It's not clear Warner's disapproving resolution could get that many votes, but a measure simply supporting the troops surely would. And that would eclipse the thrust of the debate over troop levels because Democrats would not agree to that.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said all Republicans would vote against moving forward with the debate.
Senator MITCH MCCONNELL (Republican, Kentucky): So make no mistake about it. This vote, it doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with scuttling the Iraq debate. We welcome the debate. We're happy to have it. But the minority will insist on fair treatment, and our definition of fair has been pared down to two resolutions.
WELNA: Democrats, in fact, had earlier backed a more strongly worded condemnation of the troop increase. But last week they threw their support behind Warner's resolution, which is more deferential to the president, in order to unite behind a single measure.
The Senate's number two Democrat, Dick Durbin, said he was appalled Republicans were trying to stop Warner's measure from being considered.
Senator DICK DURBIN (Democrat, Illinois): If the Republicans in the Senate cannot swallow the thin soup of the Warner resolution, how will they ever stomach a real debate on the war in Iraq?
WELNA: But even some of the sharpest Republican critics of the war fell in line with their leadership, including Nebraska's Chuck Hagel.
Senator CHUCK HAGEL (Republican, Nebraska): I have every confidence in our two leaders that they will work out. They will work out a resolution where we will have this debate because it is clearly in the interest of our country, it is clearly in the interest of our troops.
WELNA: And resolution sponsor Warner himself seconded Hagel's stance.
Senator JOHN WARNER (Republican, Virginia): And I, too, have confidence in our leadership being able to work this out. And accordingly, no matter how strongly I feel about my resolution, I shall vote with our distinguished leader on this issue in hopes that it can reconcile the differences.
WELNA: Majority Leader Harry Reid was clearly dismayed to hear both Hagel and Warner, for whom he said he had the greatest respect.
Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada): With all due respect to them, how could they vote against a motion to proceed?
WELNA: But vote against it, they did. So did every other Republican present, except for Maine's Susan Collins and Minnesota's Norm Coleman, both face tough reelection bids next year. The resolution's backers fell 11 votes short of the 60 they needed to prevail. After the vote, Majority Leader Reid called the outcome a real disappointment.
Sen. REID: People down at the White House in those rooms, in the West Wing are all getting high-fives right now. Look, we stopped them. We stopped them. But all they did is stop it momentarily. The American people are going to have the Iraq matter debated every chance we get. And they can stop us on this, but they're not going to stop us for long.
WELNA: And Democrats vowed they won't let it be forgotten how Republicans voted last night.
David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
