Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08) today introduced a bill to force a new direction in Iraq. The Protect the Troops and Bring Them Home Act provides that no funds can be used in Iraq except to protect our troops and to arrange for their withdrawal beginning in one month and ending by December 31, 2007. It also provides that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq cannot be increased at any time.
“It has been wrongly asserted that Congress cannot force the President to de-escalate or withdraw from Iraq because it cannot use its only real power – cutting off funds - lest it be accused of ‘abandoning the troops,’” says Rep. Nadler. “But if Congress appropriates funds, but limits those funds to protecting the troops and redeploying them from Iraq, that would be the best way of supporting the troops. In fact, keeping (or adding) American soldiers in the middle of a civil war with no end in sight is the ultimate act of abandonment. We must save American lives by bringing them home as soon as possible.”
The Protect the Troops and Bring Them Home Act would limit the use of funds to:
Protecting our troops while they are in Iraq
Bringing the troops home in a safe and orderly manner on a timetable beginning one month after enactment of the Act and ending by December 31, 2007
Providing assistance to Iraqi security forces
Providing economic and reconstruction assistance
Arranging for diplomatic consultations.
“If we want to end America’s military involvement in Iraq’s civil war, the only way we can overcome the President’s stubbornness in keeping us involved in this misguided effort is to limit the use of the funds to protecting our troops while carrying out a withdrawal,” says Rep. Nadler.