like that levin feels this way but don't like the strings attached to it...
WASHINGTON -- Michigan Senator Carl Levin said today he believes Congress will pass an emergency spending bill to guarantee funding for troops in Iraq, but that Democrats will likely try to attach language requiring President Bush to certify that Iraq's leaders reach certain political benchmarks.
Levin, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that Democrats "are not going to cut off funding for the troops." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has joined some liberals in the Senate calling for a cut-off of funds, but Levin said he does not believe that is the position of many Democrats in the Senate.
"That is not going to happen," he said.
Both Houses of Congress have passed emergency supplemental spending bills that would pay for operations in Iraq, but both versions include timetables for beginning a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. President Bush has said he will veto any such language; Congress must first iron out differences between the two bills and pass the revised legislation.
After the president's veto, Levin said, Democrats may seek to pass a new bill that includes both funding and a requirement that the Iraqi government meet political benchmarks, such as passage of a law on sharing oil revenues and passage of a revised constitution.
"There is no military solution to this problem, there is only a political solution," Levin said. The Iraqi government had committed to reaching 17 such benchmarks by early this year, but has achieved almost none of them.
Also appearing on the program, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said Iraqi leaders had made progress in some areas, such as an agreement on easing rules that bar most members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from government. But even that effort has stalled; Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims, has rejected a proposed law.
WASHINGTON -- Michigan Senator Carl Levin said today he believes Congress will pass an emergency spending bill to guarantee funding for troops in Iraq, but that Democrats will likely try to attach language requiring President Bush to certify that Iraq's leaders reach certain political benchmarks.
Levin, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that Democrats "are not going to cut off funding for the troops." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has joined some liberals in the Senate calling for a cut-off of funds, but Levin said he does not believe that is the position of many Democrats in the Senate.
"That is not going to happen," he said.
Both Houses of Congress have passed emergency supplemental spending bills that would pay for operations in Iraq, but both versions include timetables for beginning a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. President Bush has said he will veto any such language; Congress must first iron out differences between the two bills and pass the revised legislation.
After the president's veto, Levin said, Democrats may seek to pass a new bill that includes both funding and a requirement that the Iraqi government meet political benchmarks, such as passage of a law on sharing oil revenues and passage of a revised constitution.
"There is no military solution to this problem, there is only a political solution," Levin said. The Iraqi government had committed to reaching 17 such benchmarks by early this year, but has achieved almost none of them.
Also appearing on the program, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said Iraqi leaders had made progress in some areas, such as an agreement on easing rules that bar most members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from government. But even that effort has stalled; Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims, has rejected a proposed law.
