White House Says Bush Would Veto Democrats' Bill

Wednesday, May 9th 2007, 10:48 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House threatened on Wednesday to veto a proposed House bill that would pay for the war only through July _ a limit Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned would be disastrous.

The warnings came as Democratic leaders wrestled with how to support the troops but still challenge President Bush on the war. Bush has requested more than $90 billion to sustain the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September.

Democrats were unbowed.

``With this latest veto threat, the president has once again chosen confrontation over cooperation,'' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In a flash of defiance, House Democratic leaders this week promoted legislation that would provide the military $42.8 billion to keep operations going through July, buy new equipment and train Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Congress would decide shortly before its August recess whether to release an additional $52.8 billion to fund the war through September.

``In essence, the bill asks me to run the Department of Defense like a skiff, and I'm trying to drive the biggest supertanker in the world,'' Gates told senators Wednesday. ``And we just don't have the agility to be able to manage a two-month appropriation very well.''

The veto threat came from White House spokesman Tony Snow, traveling aboard Air Force One with Bush to tour tornado damage in Kansas.

``There are restrictions on funding and there are also some of the spending items that were mentioned in the first veto message that are still in the bill,'' Snow said.

House members planned a vote Thursday, just two days after David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the Appropriations Committee, briefed White House chief of staff Josh Bolten on the plan.

The stern White House response also reflected the high stakes involved for Bush, who is struggling to beat back congressional skepticism about his Iraq strategy. In recent days, Bush has tried to shore up support by personally reaching out to moderate Republican and Democratic rank-and-file.

Democrats face their own uphill battle. Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., say they want to provide troops the resources they need. At the same time, several members within their caucus are calling to cut off funds for the unpopular and costly war.

Democratic leaders acknowledge the new Iraq bill might pass in the House only to sink in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slimmer majority and are more reluctant than their House counterparts to restrict war funds.

``The House and Senate may take different paths forward, but we share a single goal _ namely, to write legislation that responsibly provides for our troops while ensuring that the Iraqi people take greater control over their own future,'' said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates left open the possibility of bringing troops home soon, even as the Pentagon plans to maintain a buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq through the end of the year.

``If (we) see some very positive progress and it looks like things are heading in the right direction, then that's the point at which I think we can begin to consider reducing some of those forces,'' Gates said.

Senators pressresident and go beyond September and the full funding of the $500 billion?'' asked Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Gates replied, ``I think that the honest answer is, senator, that I don't know.''

Gates told the panel that proposals for a short-term funding bill would be very disruptive and ``have a huge impact'' on contracts to repair and replace equipment. And if Congress votes in July to pull the plug on war funding, ``I would have to shut down significant elements of the Department of Defense in August and September because I wouldn't have the money to pay salaries.''

As the House moved out alone on its Iraq proposal, Reid met for about an hour Wednesday with Bolten and Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

According to a senior administration official who attended the session, the meeting was mostly about the process of getting a bill through both chambers and to the president. There also were some substantive discussions about content that the official would not discuss.

The White House wants Democrats in the Senate and House to better coordinate where they want to go with a bill, but this is not preventing Bolten from talking about specifics in the meantime.