U.S. Democrats drop troop withdrawal timeline in war funding bill

Source: Xinhuanet | 05-23-2007 09:03

An Iraqi policeman walks past a burning fuel tanker in the Iraqi southern city of Basra, after the British military supply convoy it was part of came under attack. Democrats were Monday poised to drop their insistence on including troop withdrawal timelines in an Iraq war funding bill, in a move which could for now, defuse a standoff with President George W. Bush.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a plan for a war funding bill that won't include a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but will feature benchmarks with consequences.

The plan, presented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to House Democrats, also raises the federal minimum wage to 7.25 U.S. dollars per hour from 5.15 dollars per hour, and funds other domestic spending programs, which were still being negotiated.

White House spokesman Tony Snow declined to comment on items that might be in the proposed bill.

"I don't want to say yes or no to any of these things. I'm just going to say, 'No comment,' " Snow said.

A senior administration official added, "It is premature to say that the White House has agreed to any provisions of the Iraq funding bill."

The legislation would provide more than 90 billion dollars to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30, the end of the fiscal year 2007.

Democrats said the benchmarks to be inked in the new bill will be tied to Iraq reconstruction aid and will require U.S. President George W. Bush to present to Congress numerous reports before August.

However, they said they won't give up on a deadline for pulling troops out of Iraq, hoping to write language into defense appropriations and defense authorization bills over the summer.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said similar legislation being written there will fund the war through September.

Bush vetoed the previous war funding bill last month that included a timetable for withdrawing troops.

On last Friday, White House officials and lawmakers left negotiations saying they were "disappointed" that they couldn't agree on a compromise.

Editor:Du Xiaodan