Legislative Background
Recent Action on Troop Deployment
Over the past few months, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Defense Authorization bill has been the vehicle for attempts by Democrats in the Senate to challenge President Bush’s Iraq war strategy and bring the troops home. But by the end of September, despite a clear majority calling for change, the leadership was unable to muster the requisite number of votes to break a filibuster and pass antiwar legislation. Webb Amendment Votes On July 11, Senator Jim Webb (VA-D) offered an amendment to require specific minimum intervals between deployments of U.S. troops. The amendment failed, 56 to 41, four votes short…
