House Rejects Iraq Pullout After GOP Forces a Vote
Democrats Enraged By Personal Attack
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 19, 2005; A01
Differences over policy on the Iraq war ignited an explosion of angry
words and personal insults on the House floor yesterday when the
chamber's newest member suggested that a decorated war veteran was a
coward for calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
As Democrats physically restrained one colleague, who appeared as if he
might lose control of himself as he rushed across the aisle to confront
Republicans with a jabbing finger, they accused Republicans of playing
political games with the war.
GOP leaders hastily scheduled a vote on a measure to require the Bush
administration to bring the troops home now, an idea proposed Thursday
by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). The Republican-proposed measure was
rejected 403 to 3, a result that surprised no one.
The idea was to force Democrats to go on the record on a proposal that
the administration says would be equivalent to surrender. Recognizing a
political trap, most Democrats -- including Murtha -- said from the
start they would vote no.
But the maneuvering exposed the chamber's raw partisan divisions and
prompted a tumultuous scene, which Capitol Hill veterans called among
the wildest and most emotional they had ever witnessed.
Though even many Democrats think Murtha's immediate withdrawal plan is
impractical, it struck a chord in a party where frustration with the
war and the Bush administration's open-ended commitment is mounting
fast. Murtha galvanized the debate as few others could have. He is a
33-year House veteran and former Marine colonel who received medals for
his wounds and valor in Vietnam, and he has traditionally been a
leading Democratic hawk and advocate of military spending.
Murtha's resolution included language the Republicans wanted to avoid,
such as "the American people have not been shown clear, measurable
progress" toward stability in Iraq. It also said troops should be
withdrawn "at the earliest practicable date," although Murtha said in
statements and interviews Thursday that the drawdown should begin now.
Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) drafted a
simpler resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops,
saying it was a fair interpretation of Murtha's intent. Members were
heatedly debating a procedural rule concerning the Hunter resolution
when Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was recognized at 5:20 p.m. Schmidt won
a special election in August, defeating Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett,
and is so new to Congress that some colleagues do not know her name.
She told colleagues that "a few minutes ago I received a call from
Colonel Danny Bubp," an Ohio legislator and Marine Corps Reserve
officer. "He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He
also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut
and run, Marines never do."
Dozens of Democrats erupted at once, pointing angrily at Schmidt and
shouting repeatedly, "Take her words down" -- the House term for
retracting a statement. For a moment Schmidt tried to keep speaking,
but the uproar continued and several GOP colleagues surrounded her as
she sat down, looking slightly dazed. Presiding officer Mike Simpson
(R-Idaho) gaveled in vain for order as Democrats continued shouting for
Schmidt to take back her words. Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Mass.) yelled
"You guys are pathetic!" from the far end of the Democratic section to
the GOP side.
Just as matters seemed to calm a bit, Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.)
suddenly charged across the aisle to the GOP seats, jabbing his finger
furiously at a small group of GOP members and shouting, "Say Murtha's
name!" Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), who had led the chants for striking
Schmidt's comments, gently guided Ford by the arm back to the minority
party's side.
At 5:31, when order was finally restored, Schmidt rose again and said
softly, "My words were not directed at any member of the House." She
asked that they "be withdrawn" from the record.
As the House temporarily moved to other matters, a calm Ford said in an
interview that he confronted the Republicans because he was angry that
they were using a ploy to avoid "a real debate" about the war. "I said,
'If you believe it's about Murtha, then talk about Murtha, don't hide
behind a resolution,' " Ford said.
It was past 10 p.m. when Murtha addressed a relatively subdued House.
Hunter's resolution "is not what I envisioned" because it avoids a
broader debate of the war, which "is not going as advertised," Murtha
said. "The American people are way ahead of us" in wanting a strategy
to bring the troops home, he added. "It's easy to sit in your
air-conditioned offices and send them into battle."
But Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.), who spent seven years as a prisoner of
war in Vietnam, said U.S. forces in Iraq "need our full support." He
added: "They need to have full faith that a few naysayers in Washington
won't cut and run and leave them high and dry."
Those voting yes on the resolution were Democrats Jose E. Serrano
(N.Y.), Robert Wexler (Fla.) and Cynthia McKinney (Ga.). Six other
Democrats -- none of them from Maryland or Virginia -- voted "present."
Top Democrats attacked the GOP tactic. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) said the Republicans "engaged in an act of deception that
undermines any shred of dignity that might be left in this Republican
Congress." She called Hunter's resolution "a political stunt" and "a
disservice to our country and to our men and women in uniform."
Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said that the GOP resolution was
meant to prevent a serious debate on the war's prosecution, and that he
lacked the words "to express the magnitude of my contempt with which I
view this shabby, petty political maneuver."
Staff writer Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company