Iraq Bill Expected Out Today
Roll Call Staff
Following extensive negotiations with their own warring internal factions, Democratic leaders suggested they will unveil the $100 billion-plus Iraq War spending bill today, even as they remained largely silent about the document’s details.
House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) said Wednesday that the majority could formally reveal details of the spending bill today, adding that leaders would address the full Democratic Caucus before making any public statement.
“I think we’re getting close. We will continue to sound out every body in the Caucus we can reach,” Obey said. Acknowledging that he has made similar suggestions earlier in the week, Obey added in a subsequent interview: “I feel much better about tomorrow than I did yesterday.”
Echoing that confidence, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Defense, asserted the measure will be distributed to members of the full committee Thursday.
“It’s going to the printer tonight,” Murtha said Wednesday afternoon. “Tomorrow morning it will be available to be distributed,” though he acknowledged that negotiations are ongoing over the document and added, “It doesn’t mean it will be.”
In addition, House Democratic leaders said the measure, expected to put conditions on the president’s use of the funds as well as money for items including veterans’ care, likely will be marked up in full committee next week.
“That would be my expectation,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) confirmed following a Wednesday afternoon leadership meeting on the proposal.
Others leaders, including Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.), asserted the Democrats were making “progress” on the details of the measure, but remained otherwise tight-lipped following the meeting.
The Democratic Caucus is scheduled to meet this morning to discuss the spending bill, in a joint meeting with the Democratic Whip organization.
Internal divisions within the majority have slowed progress on the measure as Democratic leaders have sought to balance the demands of more conservative members with those of the party’s progressive, anti-war faction.
But Obey said he laid blame for much of that divisiveness on “leaks” about the bill, criticizing those lawmakers who have provided information to the media before the details have been finalized.
“Our primary problem has been that Members don’t know what’s in it,” Obey said of the spending bill. Those admissions, he added, have prompted unnecessary arguments within the Caucus: “Then [Members are] reacting to something that really isn’t on the table.”
In an effort to battle those disclosures, Obey acknowledged that he recently disseminated false information during a closed-door meeting on the spending bill in an effort to identify the source of the leaks.
On Tuesday, “when I read the paper I figured out who two of those people were,” Obey added, although he declined to identify the lawmakers, including whether they are members of the Appropriations panel. He also refused to discuss the false information that he provided. Those individuals “will not be invited to further meetings,” he added.
Another Appropriations panel member expressed surprise at the action, stating she was unaware of any leaked information. “What’s there to leak? There’s nothing written,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).
In the meantime, the Progressive Caucus, which has sought language in the supplemental requiring the withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, is slated to unveil its proposal this morning to fund such an effort.
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