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WASHINGTON - All three Utah representatives on Friday voted against a defense-spending bill that would require the withdrawal of troops from Iraq by September 2008 or earlier if the Iraqi government doesn't meet certain benchmarks.
Reps. Rob Bishop and Chris Cannon voted with their Republican colleagues against the measure, and Utah's lone Democrat, Jim Matheson, broke with his party's ranks to be one of 14 Democrats to vote against the bill.
The bill, providing $124 billion for the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, passed the House 218-212 with one member voting simply "present." The spending bill carries with it a mandatory withdrawal date Democrats argued was what the American people wanted when they voted last November to put the party in charge of Congress.
Matheson objected to language in the bill that he said would "compromise the safety of our troops on the ground." He has said previously he would not support any bill containing a date-certain withdrawal, and he took issue with how the debate came down to Republican vs. Democrat.
"I am saddened that this important issue devolved into a partisan debate," Matheson said in a statement. "It's immoral to play politics with the needs of the men and women who protect the ideals we hold so dear."
Matheson had proposed an amendment to allow President Bush to decide the withdrawal date and for him to ensure the date was "classified." The amendment, though, didn't get included into the debate.
Cannon called the vote "shameful" and a "slap in the face to our fighting men and women." He said the passage of the withdrawal deadline would "encourage the terrorist insurgents to just hold out another year" and that while Americans may be growing impatient with the situation in Iraq, they also want to win.
"It is equally shameful," Cannon added, "that the Democrat leadership, who love to talk about the politics of corruption, has been roaming the House all week with an open checkbook buying whatever votes they needed to get to 218," the threshold to pass the measure.
Bishop issued a statement saying that the Democratic bill funds billions in non-emergency spending, "undercuts our troops and their sacrifices" and is the first step toward surrender.
"This bill is supposed to be for emergency funding, it's supposed to support our troops and it's supposed to help us achieve victory in war," Bishop said. "It does none of that. In fact, it does just the opposite."
Two Republicans, Reps. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and Walter Jones of North Carolina, joined Democrats in supporting the measure. Both oppose the increase of troops ordered by President Bush.