Senate leader sets quick votes on Iraq funding

In a new escalation of the fight over Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Monday the Senate will vote this week on a measure to cut off funding for combat operations and a placeholder version of the war spending measure vetoed by President Bush.

Reid said he would offer both measures as amendments to the Water Resources Development Act, which is on the floor again Tuesday.

Similar to the House debate last week, Reid appears to be setting up test votes on an approach favored by his party's anti-war wing -- withdrawal of U.S. forces from combat zones by early next year -- as well as a more mainstream approach leaders hope can be used to cobble together a bipartisan majority.

The placeholder bill would provide $120 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and some domestic projects. It would retain the same Oct. 1 deadline for beginning the troop pullout from Iraq but allow Bush to waive the requirement.

Reid is allowing his party's liberals to vent their frustration by voting on an amendment similar to legislation sponsored by Reid and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., that would require withdrawal of forces by March 31, 2008, other than for more limited roles such as training Iraqi forces, protecting U.S. facilities and conducting anti-terrorism operations.

That amendment is unlikely to get 60 votes, but Reid will have given senators a chance to vote on their preferred approach before having to settle for something less strict.

Those softer provisions could turn out similar to the second Iraq amendment to be debated on the water resources bill, one co-sponsored by Reid and Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.

That measure would include the same timelines for redeployment as contained in the original vetoed supplemental -- although redeployment would now be referred to as "reduction of forces."

But it would allow the president to waive the requirements for up to 90 days at a time upon certifying to Congress that the Iraqi government is making progress in meeting political and security benchmarks.

"By providing for the presidential waiver, we are removing any reason for the president to veto the supplemental funding bill," Levin said in a statement.

The Reid-Levin amendment also would beef up restrictions on economic aid to the Iraqi government, withholding 75 percent of certain funds for reconstruction assistance unless the benchmarks are met. That is up from 50 percent in the original version.

It also contains the readiness requirements for unit deployments proposed by House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., and included in the vetoed supplemental.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., also would like the opportunity to debate and vote on a "clean" supplemental, containing only the president's funding request and without troop restrictions, sources said.

It remains unclear how much bipartisan support the Reid-Levin amendment will get, but if it gets enough votes it could provide the basis for revised Iraq language when the Senate Thursday takes up its own supplemental.

Reid is expected to call up the House bill and offer a substitute likely similar to the $124.2 billion version Bush vetoed earlier this month but with softer Iraq provisions.

Aides to Reid said the votes on the two amendments could take place as early as Tuesday if the "Republicans play ball." But they conceded he would most likely be forced to file cloture on both Tuesday and hold the votes early Wednesday.

In his surprise announcement, Reid said coupling the two measures was intended to "ensure quick Senate passage of a conference vehicle" for the new supplemental spending bill, "as well as to give senators an opportunity to express their views on the president's Iraq policy."

The House last week passed a new supplemental providing the funding in two-month installments, with a vote in between to terminate funding for the war at the end of July. Senate Democrats have shied away from endorsing this approach.

"On our side of the aisle, Democrats believe we should do something very, very close" to the vetoed supplemental, Reid said. Except for the president's waiver authority, he said "that is what we have here."

Memorial Day is the unofficial deadline for getting a supplemental conference report to Bush's desk. The compromise is likely to call for progress benchmarks to pressure Iraqi officials into forming a stable government.

The real negotiations will ramp up next week when a new House-Senate conference convenes, and Reid and House leaders continue to negotiate with the White House even as the chambers pursue their "two-track" strategy of separate votes and amendments on Iraq redeployment.

Meanwhile, the Senate is poised to give overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $13.9 billion, 15-year package of water projects. About $2.5 billion of the funding would be allocated to Louisiana Delta projects to help the region recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Votes also are expected on several controversial amendments, including one sponsored by Feingold and Coburn that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize the projects.

In addition, Coburn is expected to offer amendments to delay funding for a visitors center in Louisiana until permanent housing is provided for 100,000 Katrina victims now living in temporary shelters, and eliminating funding for a beach replenishment project in Southern California.

Aides to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he was "up in the air" on whether to offer an amendment requiring the Corps to take into account the impact of projects on global warming. The aides said he might hold off on the amendment in the interest of expeditious action on WRDA.