With all the emphasis on Reid/Feingold yesterday, one important vote in the House might have flown under the radar.
Yesterday a vote was taken on HR 1585, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ), that would have blocked funds authorized for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from being used for a military strike on Iran. That amendment went down to defeat with a vote of 202 for and 216 against. Twenty-nine Democrats opposed the measure, 6 Republicans supported it. Full details of the roll call vote can be found on the House web site.
An article in The Hill provides some background on this amendment and a few hints as to why some Democrats are reluctant to vote to approve.
House Democrats, who have been divided on whether the president needs authorization from Congress to attack Iran, suggested yesterday that they are more united on the controversial issue.
...
House Democratic leaders initially attempted to insert Iran language in their now-vetoed Iraq supplemental bill after some New York Democrats, including Reps. Eliot Engel and Gary Ackerman, balked at the language.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influential group that advocates strong U.S. ties with Israel, lobbied heavily to remove the Iran provision in the supplemental, arguing that the measure would weaken President Bush’s attempts to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Rather than jeopardize the chances of passing the Iraq supplemental bill, the language was removed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised several members, including Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), that she would allow for an up-or-down vote on an Iran amendment. Yesterday, Speaker Pelosi kept her promise and the amendment was narrowly defeated with the help of the following 29 Democratic House Members:
Ackerman
Altmire
Barrow
Bean
Berkley
Bishop (GA)
Boren
Boyd (FL)
Carney
Cramer
Cuellar
Donnelly
Herseth Sandlin
Holden
Klein (FL)
Lampson
Mahoney (FL)
Marshall
Mitchell
Melancon
Murtha
Rothman
Salazar
Schwartz
Scott (GA)
Sherman
Shuler
Space
Tanner
Representative Engel, who originally objected to the language being in the Iraq supplemental, did not vote on this amendment. Nine other Democrats, Baird, Christensen, Faleomavaega, Hinojosa, Israel, Jones (OH), Nadler, Solis and Wynn, also did not vote.
I guess we could be encouraged by how narrowly the amendment failed and by how many Democratic Members of the House (196) voted for denying funding for military action in Iran. OTOH that fact remains that since no legislation was passed, nothing prevents the President from using funds to plan and implement a military strike against Iran. If your representative is on the list of Democrats above or a Republican that helped block this amendment, please take the time to call and offer him/her your opinion of this decision. By the same token if your Representative, Democrat or Republican, voted in flavor of this amendment, please take the time to voice your approval. Capitol Toll Free Number - 800-828-0498.