Colorado’s congressional delegation split along party lines today on a war funding measure that suggests a timeline for troop withdrawals.
Democrats from Colorado favored the legislation while Republicans opposed.
The House is expected to vote as early as tonight on the $124 billion funding bill. It will then go to the Senate. The bill is the product of a conference committee that merged House and Senate funding bills
The funding measure contains a suggested withdrawal date, not a firm timeline. Bush has said he would veto any funding bill with a timeline for troop withdrawal.
Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, Marilyn Musgrave of Fort Morgan and Tom Tancredo of Littleton said they would vote against the bill. The Republicans opposed the timeline, and because of extra funding for special interests added to attract votes.
Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Denver, Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs, John Salazar of Manassa and Ed Perlmutter of Golden supported the measure, saying the president’s war policy is failing and new accountability is needed.
In the Senate, Sen. Ken Salazar wants to stick to a goal of withdrawing troops from Iraq, even if President Bush vetoes the funding bill.
Asked whether he’d stick to a withdrawal date if that creates a standoff with the president that puts funding on hold, Salazar, D-Colo., said that he supports the Iraq Study Group’s withdrawal language. It says that by the first quarter of 2008…”all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq.”
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. called the funding measure “a surrender document.”
“I must continue to vote against any legislation that sets arbitrary deadlines and thresholds in Iraq,” Allard said.
