House Passes War Bill
Last updated Saturday, March 24, 2007 10:04 PM CDT in News
By Tony Batt
The Morning News
WASHINGTON -- U.S. troops would leave Iraq by Aug. 31, 2008, according to a war spending bill the House approved Friday by a 218 to 212 vote.
American soldiers could begin leaving as early as July 1, 2008, if the Iraqi government fails to meet benchmarks in the $124.3 billion measure.
The outcome of the vote remained uncertain until antiwar representatives in the Democratic caucus decided to support continued funding for the war as long as a deadline for ending it was included.
Opponents of the bill, primarily Republicans, argued U.S. troops deserve a spending measure with no strings attached, and that a deadline for withdrawal signals weakness to America's enemies.
Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillett; Mike Ross, D-Prescott; and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, voted for the bill. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, voted against it.
Hurricane Housing
Low-income victims of Hurricane Katrina and other Gulf Coast storms would be given a chance to return home under a bill that passed the House by a vote of 302-125.
The legislation would require the replacement of all demolished public housing units and give displaced public housing tenants an absolute right of return.
Debate on the measure became so heated that Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., was reprimanded for questioning "the decency" of Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. Taylor, and other advocates of the bill said hurricane victims lost their homes through no fault of their own and should be given a chance to get back on their feet.
Critics of the bill, including Price, expressed concern that disaster assistance can lead to runaway spending.
Berry, Ross and Snyder voted for the bill. Boozman voted against it.
Senate OKs Budget
The Senate voted 52 to 47 for a $2.9 trillion budget that would produce a balanced budget in five years and still extend popular tax cuts set to expire by the end of 2010.
The budget would require lawmakers who want additional tax cuts to provide more money for government programs such as Medicare, children's health or farm subsidies. Democratic leaders hailed the vote as evidence they can govern because the Republican-controlled Congress failed to pass a budget last year.
Republicans warned the budget still would result in the largest tax increases ever.
Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., voted for the budget bill.
Estate Tax
Before approving the $2.9 trillion budget, the Senate voted 51-48 to keep taxes on estates worth up to $5 million.
The amendment by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., also would have reduced the maximum tax rate of 45 percent to 35 percent on larger estates beginning at the end of 2010.
Backers said this would lessen the burden of the so-called "death tax."
Critics complained the reduction would increase the federal deficit.
Lincoln and Pryor voted against the estate tax cut.
The Senate also voted 59-40 in favor of raising taxes on tobacco to pay for a substantial expansion of health insurance for children from poor families. But the vote was merely symbolic because the measure by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., was nonbinding.
Smith proposed increasing taxes by as much as 61 cents on a pack of cigarettes to raise up to $35 billion over five years for the State Children's Health Insurance Plan.
Lincoln and Pryor voted for the Smith amendment.
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