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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: xcr600 who wrote (10538)	10/10/2002 8:10:14 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

House Passes Iraq Bill; Bush Wins Senate Test Votes (Update5) By Laura Litvan and William Roberts Washington, Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House of Representatives voted to give President George W. Bush the power to go to war against Iraq, and a series of test votes showed the Senate is likely to follow by tomorrow. The House voted 296-133 to pass the resolution, with 81 of the 209 Democrats voting for it. Bush said the action will boost his efforts to gain international backing to rid Iraq of its stockpile of biological and chemical weapons. ``The House has spoken loudly to the world and to the United Nations Security Council,'' Bush said in remarks at the White House after the vote. ``The days of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end.'' Bush is on the verge of a major foreign policy victory in Congress four weeks before nationwide congressional elections. The Senate voted 75-25 to limit debate on the resolution, setting the stage for a final vote tonight or tomorrow. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle announced that he'll vote for the measure, after attempts to modify it failed. ``We pass this resolution with grave concern and deep reservations,'' Daschle said. UN Watching At the United Nations, ambassadors from nations on the Security Council said Congress's action will boost the U.S. negotiating position and may hasten action in that body. ``The U.S. delegation is not in a position to really proceed with what it wants because the position of the national government is not yet fully clear,'' Mauritius Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul said. ``Congressional action may change that.'' The Security Council agreed to hold an emergency meeting next week open to all nations to discuss the Iraq situation. The House voted down three alternatives offered by Democrats. The chamber rejected, 355-72, a resolution that would require the U.S. to achieve its aims through diplomacy. Another plan, rejected 270-155, would have required Bush to work through the United Nations first and return to Congress for authorization to act unilaterally if the UN failed to support a tougher stance against the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. An attempt to require Bush to make numerous reports before initiating military action failed 301-25. ``A strike on Saddam is an integral part, a necessary part, of the war on terrorism,'' said Representative Richard Armey, the retiring No. 2 House Republican leader, who previously had called himself ``the hardest sell in this town'' for Bush's policy. On the final vote, six of the 223 Republicans opposed the bill. Alternatives Defeated The Senate defeated several amendments proposed by Democrats to limit the authority granted to Bush. The chamber voted 75-24 against a proposal by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin to require Bush to work with the UN and return to Congress before acting independently. Earlier, senators voted 66-31 against a proposal by Senator Robert C. Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, to let Congress terminate Bush's war-making authority under the bill after a year. The Senate rejected 86-14 a proposal to let Bush use the U.S. military only in response to ``a clear threat of imminent, sudden and direct attack upon the United States.'' Two Republican senators, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, voted against limiting debate, as did independent James Jeffords of Vermont. New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer were among 28 Democrats who voted with Republicans to block a filibuster. ``With this resolution we are giving the president extraordinary authority.'' Daschle said in announcing he'd vote for the resolution. ``We are talking about driving Saddam Hussein from power.'' Democratic Supporters Bush won backing from most Senate Democrats facing close re- election battles this year. Senator Jean Carnahan of Missouri and Senator Max Cleland of Georgia said they support the measure. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, whose opponent, Republican Norm Coleman, has made Iraq a campaign issue, said he will vote against the declaration. Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, and other potential Democratic presidential contenders, Senators John Edwards of North Carolina and Evan Bayh of Indiana, gave Bush their support early in the debate. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said yesterday he will support, with reservations, the resolution Bush seeks. ``The best way to get a resolution in the United Nations is to make clear we are prepared to act if they do not do so,'' Lieberman said. Dissent Critics were unable to narrow the authority allowing Bush to use military action if he determines diplomacy won't work. ``It specifically authorizes the use of force on a go-it- alone, unilateral basis without the United Nations Security Council,'' Senator Levin said. ``The White House's rhetoric does not match the resolution.'' Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said that the administration's arguments ``just don't add up to a coherent basis for a new major war.'' Chafee was the only Republican to express opposition to Bush's resolution. ``Our friends are telling us we are ratcheting up the hatred'' in the Middle East,'' Chafee said. House opponents of the bill said Bush hasn't made it clear what casualties or costs the American public faces, or proven that Hussein poses any short-term risk to U.S. interests. The American public ``know that ultimately they will be required to pay the price,'' said Representative Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat. ``They want answers.'' ©2002 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Trademarks.