Senate Rejects Measure To Regulate Combat Tours
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ efforts to challenge President Bush’s Iraq policies were dealt a demoralizing blow yesterday in the Senate after they failed to scrape together enough support to guarantee troops more time at home.
The 56–44 vote — four short of reaching the 60 needed to advance — all but assured that Democrats would be unable to muster the support needed to pass tough anti-war legislation by year’s end. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Webb, a Democrat of Virginia, was seen as the Democrats’ best shot because of its pro-military premise.
Mr. Webb’s legislation would have required that troops spend as much time at home training with their units as they spend deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Members of the National Guard or Reserve would be guaranteed three years at home before being sent back. Most Army soldiers now spend about 15 months in combat with 12 months home.
“In blocking this bipartisan bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated that they are more committed to protecting the president than protecting our troops,” the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, said.
