Democrats in the Congress, who came to power last year on a call to end the combat in Iraq, will soon give President Bush the last war-funding bill of his presidency without any of the conditions they sought for withdrawing U.S. troops, congressional aides said on Monday. Lawmakers are arranging to send Bush $165 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enough to last for about a year and well beyond when Bush leaves office on January 20. A House of Representatives vote on the bill was expected this week. Anything the House passes would have to be approved by the Senate before the legislation is sent to Bush. With the Pentagon running out of money to continue fighting the two wars, Congress is trying to approve new funds before its July 4 holiday recess."It'll be the lump sum of money, veterans (funding) and that's it," said one House aide familiar with the negotiations on the legislation. The aide was referring to the funding for the unpopular Iraq war and a measure being attached to expand education benefits for combat veterans.
Since January, 2007, when Democrats took majority control of the House and Senate, they have tried to force Bush to change course in Iraq, mostly through troop withdrawal timetables and requirements that U.S. soldiers be more thoroughly trained, equipped and rested before returning to combat. And while various versions have passed each chamber since then, there have not been enough votes in Congress to enact the war conditions over Bush's objections. The result is that the 110th Congress will wrap up most of its work this fall, before November's congressional and presidential elections, without forcing any changes to Bush's open-ended war policy, the defining issue of his presidency.