[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 178 (Friday, November 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14591-S14592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ORDERLY AND RESPONSIBLE IRAQ REDEPLOYMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008--
MOTION TO PROCEED
cloture motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the clerk will
report the motion to invoke cloture.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
proceed to H.R. 4156, the Orderly and Responsible Iraq
Redeployment Appropriations Act, 2008.
Carl Levin, Robert Menendez, Claire McCaskill, Robert P.
Casey, Jr., Richard J. Durbin, Tom Carper, Amy
Klobuchar, Daniel K. Akaka, Jack Reed, Patty Murray,
Sherrod Brown, Frank R. Lautenberg, Charles E. Schumer,
S. Whitehouse, Debbie Stabenow, B.A. Mikulski, Harry
Reid.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes, with the time
equally divided. Who seeks time?
The assistant majority leader is recognized.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, what will it take to end this war? How
many lives? How many limbs? How many broken families? How many innocent
victims?
The Senate has an opportunity, with this next vote, to start to bring
this war to an end and to start to bring our soldiers home in an
orderly, responsible way.
We know the President will not do this. But it is within our power,
our authority, and our responsibility under the Constitution to do it.
A vote now to move forward on this House appropriations bill will bring
this war to an end in an orderly, responsible way.
I urge my colleagues, do not shirk your responsibility. Do not be on
the wrong side of history.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks time?
The Senator from Alabama is recognized.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, this summer, we had grim numbers coming
out of Iraq and we had an election and we went through a soul-searching
analysis of what to do. By an 80-to-14 vote, this Senate voted to send
General Petraeus to Iraq and give him a chance to succeed. We had his
full report in September. We had other reports from General Jones and
GAO, and we concluded to continue this.
In recent weeks, progress has exceeded what we could have expected
possible. This is not the right time to tie the hands of our military
leaders. It is not the right thing to do--to leave any doubt that we
are going to support the troops we have sent into harm's way.
I urge colleagues to not leave our troops in uncertainty and stand
firm with a policy that seems to be working. Let's continue to monitor
it. If it fails, we need to know that. But, right now, things are going
well, and it would be wrong to undermine that in any way.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired. By unanimous consent,
the mandatory quorum call is waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the
motion to proceed to H.R. 4156, a bill making emergency supplemental
appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2008, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a
close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Lott) and the Senator from Arizona (Mr.
McCain).
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 53, nays 45, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 411 Leg.]
YEAS--53
Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Brown
Byrd
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Clinton
Collins
Conrad
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Feinstein
Hagel
Harkin
Inouye
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Klobuchar
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lincoln
McCaskill
Menendez
Mikulski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Rockefeller
Salazar
Sanders
Schumer
Smith
Snowe
Stabenow
Tester
Webb
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--45
Alexander
Allard
Barrasso
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burr
Chambliss
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Corker
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
DeMint
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Ensign
Enzi
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Isakson
Kyl
Lieberman
Lugar
Martinez
McConnell
Murkowski
Roberts
Sessions
Shelby
Specter
Stevens
Sununu
Thune
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
NOT VOTING--2
Lott
McCain
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 53, the nays are
45. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted
in the affirmative, the motion is rejected.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I move to reconsider vote No. 410.
Mr. DODD. I move to table that, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider vote No. 411.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion to reconsider is entered.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, at the request of the distinguished majority
[[Page S14592]]
leader, and as the only Democrat who voted against cloture on the
motion to proceed to H.R. 4156, the Orderly and Responsible Iraq
redeployment Appropriations Bill, I have entered this motion to
reconsider so that the Senate may have another opportunity to vote on
this matter. Only Senators who voted no on this matter are able under
Senate rules to ask for another vote.
I am undertaking this procedural matter at the Leader's request and
out of my respect for him. I am happy to do so.
However, I want to make clear that should there be another cloture
vote on H.R. 4156 or similar legislation, my position will remain the
same--I will vote no. I am opposed to providing any additional funding
for the war in Iraq unless there is a firm and enforceable deadline for
the redeployment of our forces from Iraq.
My views on the ongoing failed policy in Iraq are included in the
Record earlier in the day at the time of the original vote and I urge
my colleagues to take the opportunity to review my concerns about our
continued involvement in a civil war which has no military solutions.
____________________