WASHINGTON — In their strongest challenge yet to President Bush over the war in Iraq, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed a war spending bill Friday that requires the withdrawal of most U.S. forces by late summer 2008.
The measure passed, 218 to 212, on a largely party-line vote, drawing support from just two Republicans after an emotional debate. House members who fought in Vietnam and Iraq delivered some of the most impassioned speeches -- both for and against the measure.
Hours after the vote, Bush appeared before television cameras at the White House to denounce the legislation, which he has repeatedly threatened to veto. He accused Democrats of performing "an act of political theater" by passing a bill that has "no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting our troops the resources they need to do their job."
In what is emerging as a political game of chicken with the White House, the Senate begins debate Monday on its version of the bill, which would require troops to start pulling out of Iraq within 120 days of passage and would set March 31, 2008, as a "goal" for completing the withdrawal.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the bills reflected "what the American people asked for in November -- redeploying our troops out of Iraq and refocusing our resources to more effectively fight the war on terror."
But the bid to force the redeployment of U.S. troops faces uncertain prospects in the narrowly divided Senate, where Republicans have stymied Democratic efforts to influence military strategy.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the leader was "hopeful that he'll have the votes." But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), joined at a news conference by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), promised: "We will defeat this on the floor of the Senate."
The $124.3-billion House war spending bill provides much of the money that Bush has sought for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Democrats attached a requirement that U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of August 2008 -- or sooner if the Iraqi government fails to meet a series of goals.
During Friday's debate, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a burly, gray-haired Vietnam veteran who has become one of his party's leading antiwar voices, recalled advice he said his great-grandmother gave him when he was a child.
"You're on this Earth to make a difference," Murtha said she told him. His voice quavering, he continued, "We're going to make a difference with this bill. We're going to bring those troops home."
