[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18369-18370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          WEBB AMENDMENT 2012

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I say through the Chair to my good friend, 
the distinguished Republican leader, a 60-vote threshold on everything 
is something that is new as a result of a minority that is forcing us 
to have cloture on virtually everything we do. If we go back and look 
at the Defense bill last year, there were no cloture votes except on 
final passage of the bill. All amendments were simple majorities, and a 
significant number of them dealt with Iraq. The 60-vote requirement is 
something that is new and has been brought about by this new minority. 
It is something we didn't do last year. We shouldn't do it this year.
  The Webb amendment is a simple amendment. It says that if you are in 
country--let's say a soldier is in Iraq for 15 months. He has to come 
home and rest for 15 months, train for 15 months. The way it is 
happening now, they are being rotated very quickly. This isn't the 
first time this has happened.
  The Senate has constitutional authority to act. Take for example the 
Korean war. We were rushing people over to Korea with inadequate 
training. Congress stepped in and passed a law saying they needed 120 
days of training before they could go to Korea. The Webb amendment is 
in keeping with what the American people want; that is, to change 
course in Iraq. This helps do that by dictating that our Guard and 
Reserve and our Active military have time to come home and retrain and 
relax before being sent into battle. Statistics show that the second 
and third and fourth tours of duty are literally deadly. People are 
getting killed more regularly on the second and third and fourth tours 
of duty than they are on the first tour for obvious reasons.
  The obvious reason, first, is fighting is becoming more fierce, and 
it is more dangerous in Iraq, but also the soldiers are tired. I called 
a family in Las Vegas whose son was killed. He went back for his fourth 
tour of duty and he told everyone there: I won't come back. He didn't. 
He was killed. That is what this amendment is all about. A simple 
majority of the Senate should be able to respond to that.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I am sure the majority leader and I will debate the 
substance of this later this morning. The Webb amendment is a clear 
interference with the President's authority to deploy troops, the 
authority of the Secretary of Defense, and the authority of the 
generals. Suffice it to say, getting 60 votes for a measure is not 
unusual in the Senate. It certainly has

[[Page 18370]]

been the case with regard to controversial issues like Iraq all year 
long. That will continue to be the case on this bill throughout its 
consideration.
  Mr. DURBIN. Will the Republican leader yield for a question?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I won't, only because I have a meeting 
in my office. But I look forward to engaging the majority whip later in 
the morning.

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