Saxby Chambliss: “However, the key difference between the bills is very simple: the goal of one of the bills is to help our efforts in…”

“However, the key difference between the bills is very simple: the goal of one of the bills is to help our efforts in Iraq succeed, and the goal of the other bill is to make our efforts fail. H.R. 4156, which passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday by a margin of only 15 votes, would mandate that the funds appropriated through the bill can only be used for a ``safe and orderly'' withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and requires that a withdrawal of U.S. forces begin 30 days after enactment with a goal for a complete withdraw of December 15, 2008. If there is a reason the restrictions in this bill sound familiar, it is because they are. This bill employs the same jargon and ill-advised deadlines and withdrawal dates that the majority tried on the Defense authorization bill and fiscal year 2007 supplemental appropriations bill earlier this year. Those strategies failed and, in the case of the appropriations bill, the proposed restrictions were removed after a Presidential veto and Congress then passed a supplemental appropriations bill without surrender dates. These strategies will fail this time as well, and they will fail for several reasons.…”