Thursday, January 11, 2007

Feingold:"Cut Off ALL War Funding"

AP:
Sen. Russ Feingold said Thursday that he will seek to end the U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq by cutting off funding in Congress.

"I have consistently called for the redeployment of our military from Iraq," he said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "... But that advice has not been heeded. And now Congress must use its main power -- the power of the purse -- to put an end to our involvement in this disastrous war."

Feingold's comments came a day after President Bush announced his plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.

"And I'm not talking here only about the surge or escalation," Feingold said.

In a telephone interview, Feingold, D-Wis., said he hasn't settled on a specific way to end the funding.

"All possibilities are on the table, as long as they involve doing what we have to do, which is to use our ability to enforce this," he said. "This is the only teeth we have, which is to say, 'We're going to be using the power of funding to bring this thing to an and."'

Feingold, who was the first senator to call for a timetable to bring troops back from Iraq, said one possibility is setting a date for cutting off funding for U.S. military involvement in Iraq. He has already introduced legislation calling on troops to be withdrawn six months after the bill's enactment.

"I begin with that idea," he said. "I think a timetable would have to be part of any power- of-the-purse proposal -- we wouldn't cut off funding tomorrow or in a couple of weeks. We would have to make sure that there is time for an orderly deployment from Iraq."

In response, White House spokesman Alex Conant said, "We understand people's skepticism and we hope they take a look at the president's plans, Prime Minister (Nouri al-) Maliki's actions, and all the things that are happening on the ground in Iraq. This is the beginning of new operations and the new way forward."

Feingold said he wants to make sure his plan addresses concerns people might have.

"Because obviously, I would never do anything that would leave our troops without what they need, so this has to be done in a way that does not cause that to happen," Feingold said.

He said he plans to work on a proposal with colleagues as they have committee hearings to discuss the Iraq war effort.

Asked if he was concerned that critics will use the proposal to argue he was undermining the troops, Feingold responded: "I'm used to that," referring to heat he took for voting against the war and his timetable proposal.

"I believe that people will know, of course, that there is a way to terminate this operation without harming our troops," he said.
Here's Feingold's op-ed on this topic today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Use the power of the purse." Matt Stoller has some advice on how to do this.

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