Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has announced that the Senate will remain in session all night tonight in order to break the Republican filibuster that is preventing the full Senate from voting on an amendment to end the Iraq War. Despite dropping support for President Bush’s Iraq plan among some Republicans, pro-war senators still hold the minimum 41 votes needed to prevent the end of debate, known as cloture. In fact, more cloture petitions have been filed in this past six-month session than in any other session in the history of the Senate.
Majority Leader Reid is using this very public strategy to bring attention to the Republican’s efforts to tie the hands of pro-peace lawmakers. “We’re going to work today. We’re going to work tomorrow night… We’re going to continue working on this until we get a vote on this amendment,” Sen. Reid told reporters yesterday, CNN reports.
The Levin-Reed amendment would be added to the 2008 Pentagon authorization bill, requiring President Bush to take concrete steps towards ending the Iraq war. If the amendment were to pass, troop withdrawals could begin within the next 120 days. Meanwhile, President Bush is considering sending more troops in order to boost his “surge” strategy.
Pro-peace advocacy groups, including the Feminist Majority, will gather across from the US Capitol building tonight to show their support for a swift passage of an amendment to end the Iraq war. Americans United for Change, VoteVets.org, and MoveOn.org will be joined by Iraq war veterans, family members, and concerned citizens at 8:30 tonight at the Upper Senate Park for the “Candle Light Call to Action.”
