Today in Washington D. C. - Oct 1, 2009
The Senate resumed consideration of the $636 billion fiscal 2010 Defense appropriations bill, H.R. 3326. Later today, a vote is expected on an amendment to the bill from Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee that calls on Generals Petraeus and McChrystal to come to Congress and testify about their recommendations on Afghanistan. The Senate Finance Committee also resumed its markup of chairman Max Baucus’ (D-MT) health care bill this morning, and is expected to finish voting on amendments.
Last night, after senators voted to waive two budget points of order against it, the Senate voted 62-38 to pass H.R. 2918, the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which includes a 30-day continuing resolution to fund the government, since Democrats once again failed to complete work on appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year yesterday.
A Senate source reflects that "Before yesterday’s video conference with General Stanley McChrystal, it seemed that the commander in Afghanistan had less opportunity to speak with President Obama than he did with CBS’ “60 Minutes” crew. This White House has a history of arranging events to rebut criticism, such as holding a fiscal responsibility summit days after singing the $787 billion stimulus bill which ballooned the deficit. Hopefully, this was not another event in that series and was the beginning of Obama moving more towards the example that former president George W. Bush set in speaking frequently with his military commanders."
But the president isn’t the only one who would benefit from hearing from Gen. McChrystal, and the commander of Central Command, General David Petraeus. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor, “Later today, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain, will offer an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that calls on our top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and the Centcom Commander, General David Petraeus, to come to Washington to explain to Congress and the American people why they believe the situation in Afghanistan is so perilous, what they believe is necessary for our success, and why.”
Sen. McConnell explained, “There’s recent precedent for this. Many Americans will recall that two years ago, in accordance with a requirement contained in another Defense Appropriations bill, General David Petraeus came to Washington to explain what had gone wrong in Iraq and what he and the rest of our forces were doing to turn things around.”
At that time in 2007, support among Democrats for doing what was necessary to achieve victory in Iraq was absent. There are signs that as things get tough in Afghanistan, support from Democrats for the mission there is also wavering. The Washington Post writes today, “With much of his party largely opposed to expanding military operations in Afghanistan, President Obama could be forced into the awkward political position of turning to congressional Republicans for support if he follows the recommendations of the commanding U.S. general there. . . . The emerging Democratic consensus is likely to constrain the president as he considers how best to proceed with an increasingly unpopular war.” Indeed, according to The Post, “Last week, a Senate panel stripped $900 million from the administration's $6.6 billion request to train and equip Afghan security forces.” But the White House issued a statement opposing the move.
Politico adds, “[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has privately and publicly warned the White House that there isn’t ‘a great deal of support for sending more troops to Afghanistan, in the country or in Congress.’ . . . Most House Democrats, according to party sources, are opposed to a U.S. escalation in Afghanistan, with maybe 40 to 60 ‘in play,’ meaning they would be open to White House appeals for more time, more money and more troops.” Politico also notes, “Recent polling shows the American public is ‘war weary,’ and the Democratic base is pushing for withdrawal, with groups like MoveOn.org leading that charge.”
Hopefully, Democrats will not prematurely give in to such pressure from their base and will support the McCain amendment to hear from Gen. McChrystal what is going wrong in Afghanistan and what he thinks needs to be done to ensure American success.
As Sen. McConnell said, “Congress, for its part, has a responsibility to fund and to oversee our armed forces. Part of that is ensuring that we have the best information possible, and that we make that information available to the American people. And that’s why it’s crucial that we have an opportunity to hear General McChrystal’s personal assessment of the mission that we confirmed him for, and that we give him an opportunity to explain why he’s concluded that more troops are needed to avoid failure in Afghanistan. General Petraeus’s testimony served a necessary purpose during an earlier debate over strategy. General McChrystal’s will do the same in this one.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Continuing Resolution, General Stanley McChrystal, health care, President Barack Obama, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Last night, after senators voted to waive two budget points of order against it, the Senate voted 62-38 to pass H.R. 2918, the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which includes a 30-day continuing resolution to fund the government, since Democrats once again failed to complete work on appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year yesterday.
A Senate source reflects that "Before yesterday’s video conference with General Stanley McChrystal, it seemed that the commander in Afghanistan had less opportunity to speak with President Obama than he did with CBS’ “60 Minutes” crew. This White House has a history of arranging events to rebut criticism, such as holding a fiscal responsibility summit days after singing the $787 billion stimulus bill which ballooned the deficit. Hopefully, this was not another event in that series and was the beginning of Obama moving more towards the example that former president George W. Bush set in speaking frequently with his military commanders."
But the president isn’t the only one who would benefit from hearing from Gen. McChrystal, and the commander of Central Command, General David Petraeus. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor, “Later today, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain, will offer an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that calls on our top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and the Centcom Commander, General David Petraeus, to come to Washington to explain to Congress and the American people why they believe the situation in Afghanistan is so perilous, what they believe is necessary for our success, and why.”
Sen. McConnell explained, “There’s recent precedent for this. Many Americans will recall that two years ago, in accordance with a requirement contained in another Defense Appropriations bill, General David Petraeus came to Washington to explain what had gone wrong in Iraq and what he and the rest of our forces were doing to turn things around.”
At that time in 2007, support among Democrats for doing what was necessary to achieve victory in Iraq was absent. There are signs that as things get tough in Afghanistan, support from Democrats for the mission there is also wavering. The Washington Post writes today, “With much of his party largely opposed to expanding military operations in Afghanistan, President Obama could be forced into the awkward political position of turning to congressional Republicans for support if he follows the recommendations of the commanding U.S. general there. . . . The emerging Democratic consensus is likely to constrain the president as he considers how best to proceed with an increasingly unpopular war.” Indeed, according to The Post, “Last week, a Senate panel stripped $900 million from the administration's $6.6 billion request to train and equip Afghan security forces.” But the White House issued a statement opposing the move.
Politico adds, “[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has privately and publicly warned the White House that there isn’t ‘a great deal of support for sending more troops to Afghanistan, in the country or in Congress.’ . . . Most House Democrats, according to party sources, are opposed to a U.S. escalation in Afghanistan, with maybe 40 to 60 ‘in play,’ meaning they would be open to White House appeals for more time, more money and more troops.” Politico also notes, “Recent polling shows the American public is ‘war weary,’ and the Democratic base is pushing for withdrawal, with groups like MoveOn.org leading that charge.”
Hopefully, Democrats will not prematurely give in to such pressure from their base and will support the McCain amendment to hear from Gen. McChrystal what is going wrong in Afghanistan and what he thinks needs to be done to ensure American success.
As Sen. McConnell said, “Congress, for its part, has a responsibility to fund and to oversee our armed forces. Part of that is ensuring that we have the best information possible, and that we make that information available to the American people. And that’s why it’s crucial that we have an opportunity to hear General McChrystal’s personal assessment of the mission that we confirmed him for, and that we give him an opportunity to explain why he’s concluded that more troops are needed to avoid failure in Afghanistan. General Petraeus’s testimony served a necessary purpose during an earlier debate over strategy. General McChrystal’s will do the same in this one.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Continuing Resolution, General Stanley McChrystal, health care, President Barack Obama, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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