Flurry of Iraq Resolutions May Lessen Effect
Senate Republican aides are hopeful that since there are multiple nonbinding resolutions on Iraq headed for the floor this week that they'll each lose just a bit of their thrust–and votes of support.
Republican Sen. John Warner plans to bring up his resolution separate from the resolution sponsored by Sens. Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Chuck Hagel, a Republican. Other resolutions are also planned, including one from Sen. John Cornyn that would support the president's plan and one from Sen. Robert Byrd that says the president must receive congressional authorization before taking offensive military action against Iran and Syria, or anyone else.
The White House says it's undeterred by the resolutions, and Senate Republican leadership aides say the multiple resolutions could help Republicans and the Bush administration.
"You're just going to start to see a bunch," says one senior Republican leadership aide. "It probably benefits the White House, and I'm sure there are some in our conference who are thinking that it spreads the opposition."
The aide predicted that if a bunch of resolutions do come up for debate, "you won't have a huge block of 50-plus votes. That's probably the best we can hope for at this point."
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