Iraq War Spending

On July 11, 2007, the U.S. Senate took a series of votes on various measures related to the war in Iraq.

Download PDF version of vote tally and text of the amendments.

Download Word version of vote tally and text of the amendments.

The amendments included:

• an attempt to require that U.S. Armed Forces returning from Iraq be permitted to be at their home base for at least as long as the length of their tour in Iraq before being deployed back to Iraq.
• an attempt to limit the length of the deployment of Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve units in Iraq to 12 months and of Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve units to 7 months in Iraq.
• a measure to require a report to Congress on the involvement of Iran in Iraq.
• a measure that would state that Armed Forces returning from Iraq SHOULD be allowed a minimum of 12 months at home before being deployed back to Iraq, but it did not require that 12 months elapse before being deployed back to Iraq.

House Voting Records

A table that tracks the key votes taken in the House between March 2007 and May 2007 on the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental spending bill. A quick explanation of the votes precedes the table. You can search by State or by representative name. The three most significant votes for determining legislative strategy are the vote on H.R. 1591, the vote on H.R. 2237 McGovern Bill and the vote on H.R. 2206 Final.

>> View House Voting Records

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Senate Voting Records

This table tracks the votes taken in the Senate between March 2007 and May 2007 on the Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental spending bill. A quick explanation of the votes precede the table. You can search by State or by representative name.

>> View Senate Voting Records

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By Jeff Leys

October 7, 2007
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Congress will likely act before the end of October on at least a portion of the $192 billion that President Bush is seeking to fund the Iraq - Afghanistan war for Fiscal Year 2008 (which runs from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008). Legal and extralegal (civil disobedience / civil resistance) lobbying should take place between now and the end of October.

You can find out who your Representative and Senators are at the website Congress.org, along with phone numbers and contact information.

Following is a likely legislative timeline that Congress may follow.

November 9, 2009

This past Wednesday, Admiral Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) announced that the Pentagon will seek additional war funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2010. While he did not give a firm dollar amount, the New York Times reported that defense budget analysts are kicking around the number of $50 billion. The Times also reported that Jack Murtha, Chair of the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, indicated on October 30 that he expects the supplemental spending bill for 2010 to be in the range of $40 billion. The final dollar amount won’t be known until the White House submits its “emergency” supplemental spending request to Congress, most likely around February 2.

In the immortal words of Coach Vince Lombardi: “What the hell is going on out there?”

September 8, 2009

On Wednesday, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on health care. Later this year he will decide whether to deploy additional troops to the war in Afghanistan, on top of the 69,000 troops already deployed. The struggle for health care and the struggle to end warfare are inextricably linked. The cost for substantive (though imperfect) health care reform as envisioned in the House of Representatives approach (with the public option) is projected to average $100 billion per year for the next 10 years. The cost to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected to cost anywhere from $55 to $100 billion a year. With a few modest reductions to the baseline military budget and the difference is paid.

The choice is clear: health care or warfare; the Common Good or Common Destruction.

This is the Senate Appropriations Committee summary of the Senate’s version of the 2009 supplemental spending bill.

Download Summary

May 4, 2009

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President Obama’s 2009 supplemental spending request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is currently before Congress. The House Appropriations Committee will “mark up” (finalize its version) of a war funding bill at a committee hearing on May 7th. The full House will likely vote on the bill the following week. The objective is to have the bill finalized and to Obama for signature by Memorial Day.

President Obama is seeking an additional $75.8 billion in war funds for this fiscal year. It is possible that Congress will add to this amount before final passage. If Congress enacts Obama’s request, total war spending will come to $144.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2009 (which ends on September 30, with Fiscal Year 2010 beginning on October 1). This compares to the $186 billion war spending in 2008. Obama’s proposed war budget for 2010 is $130 billion.

April 29, 2008

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According to an April 29 article on CQ Politics, the House will likely vote on a new Iraq – Afghanistan war supplemental during the week of May 5, with Senator Harry Reid stating that he wants the Senate to vote on the bill prior to Memorial Day.

Details of the supplemental are being closely guarded by the Democratic party leadership. However, the supplemental is based upon President Bush’s request for an additional $108 billion in supplemental funding for the Iraq – Afghanistan war for the current fiscal year (FY 2008, which ends on September 30, 2008). Of this amount, $102 billion will be for the military.

February 15, 2008

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Congress is now considering President Bush’s request for an additional $102.5 billion in supplemental spending for the Iraq – Afghanistan wars. The central objectives of the antiwar effort must continue to be an end to all funding for the war in Iraq; an end to all military action against Iraq; and the complete and immediate withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Iraq.

At the same time, it is important to examine the recent voting records of Representatives. An assessment of voting records will assist in developing strategies and tactics to use in lobbying Representatives to bring the Iraq war to an end. These strategies will no doubt include both legal and extralegal (i.e., nonviolent civil disobedience and nonviolent civil resistance) forms of lobbying.

The following assessments should be used as a tool in developing lobbying strategies rather than as the “be all, end all” assessment of Representatives and there are varying degrees of support or opposition to the Iraq war within each grouping that follows.

Download Full Report as PDF