Warner war proposal called 'weak tea'

Posted by David Lerman, Daily Press, at 4:30 CDT

Sen. John Warner of Virginia, a respected voice in Congress on military matters, failed Wednesday in a bid to steer the Senate toward a middle ground on Iraq policy as President Bush threatens to veto war-funding legislation.

Warner, a Republican centrist, offered a plan that would impose restrictions on future economic aid for Iraq while avoiding Democratic calls for a troop pull-out that Bush vowed to veto.

But in a key test vote that underscored the ongoing stalemate over how to fund the Iraq war, the Senate narrowly rejected Warner’s proposal on a 52-44 vote. The measure fell 8 votes shy of the 60 required to proceed.

Warner had spent weeks drafting what he hoped would be compromise legislation that would clear the way for funding the Iraq war for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

The House last week passed a bill funding the war in phases, with an additional vote required in July. Bush threatened to veto that measure.

Warner’s initiative would have avoided both a piecemeal funding plan and Democratic calls for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

It would have set benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet, such as training Iraqi brigades and reducing the level of sectarian violence. It also would have required Bush to make reports to Congress on the progress of those benchmarks.

If Bush could not certify that progress was being made, Congress would cut off funds for economic aid to Iraq, though not military aid. But in a key concession to the White House, Warner’s measure would have allowed Bush to waive that requirement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blasted Warner’s proposal on the Senate floor, saying it is too weak to have any real effect on White House policy.

``If you looked in the dictionary under `weak,’ the Warner amendment would be right under it,” Reid said.

``A cup of tea that’s been sitting on the counter for a few weeks…. You wouldn’t want to drink that tea.”

Rising to defend himself, Warner called his proposal ``a good-faith effort to do my very best” to keep the Congress better informed of progress in Iraq. He noted his plan also calls for the creation of an independent commission to study the readiness of the Iraqi security forces that would be led by former Marine Corp Commandant James Jones.