Posted by
Ben Amis on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:59:33 AM
I've been awake all night, and will remain awake, watching the all-night session currently ongoing in the U.S. Senate, as they debate the Levin/Reed Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill, which would call for the reduction of troop levels in Iraq one hundred twenty days after passage of the bill. This is my first post over this topic of at least three. I plan to post again at 8:00 AM and again after the cloture vote, which could end around 11:30 AM. This way, I can give an accurate summary of the speakers I've seen since midnight, when I began watching.
The Democrats have been spilling their rhetoric down the center aisle of the Senate, reading letters of those in opposition and criticizing the minority for their filibustering. They also criticize Bush for blindly going into Iraq and helping Al Qaeda to regroup under pressure. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, the current speaker, as we're just about at twenty minutes after three in the morning, has been the most insane and outspoke, even topping the manure laid out by Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, just a couple hours ago. Both speak with a large "Let Us Vote" poster, advocating for an up-or-down vote on final passage, and criticizing their opponents instead of support their own unique ideas to fix this problem.
As far as the Republicans go, I say as Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, is just now taking the floor, most have done a fair job of defending our reasons to be in Iraq. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., hoped that those who say Iraq will calm down if we leave are right if the legislation passes, although he stated that he doesn't believe they are. John Thune, R-South Dakota, reminded the Senate that the greater task at hand is the Defense Appropriations Bill, which also is increasing military pay, and is appropriating billions of dollars for training and equipment to make our troops safer. He urged we wait for September, seeing as the Senate only asks for this report in May.
To counter the outspoken Sen. Stabenow, Sen. Sessions, who is still speaking, criticized the body for blaming the President when the Senate has been the one to authorize the war, confirm the military leadership, and appropriated it. He asserted that they share the burden with the President, and that we wishes we could leave Iraq, but that we must do so "safely" and "smartly" and that we must listen to the commander, who the Senate recently confirmed unanimously, in a vote of 81-0.
More subtle speakers so far have included Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, one of the three Republicans supporting the amendment, who criticized the Iraqi Parliament for their lack of activity (and rightly so), and said that this amendment waits one-hundred twenty days after enactment before taking effect, reminding the Senate that the earliest a Defense Appropriations Bill has ever been signed into law was in mid-October. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, who displayed her mastery over saying very little in a long amount of time tonight, stated that we must continually and openly assure the world that we don't want to benefit from Iraq's oil and that we have no plans to have permanent bases in the country.
This is just the first summary, you'll have another one in about four hours, and then another. Don't worry, my in-depth opinion is coming! Stay tuned.