http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/pl_nm/iraq_congress_dc;_ylt=Ai0R0YEcIZG8p9fPMj5v9wOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-Congress restricts Bush on Iraq spending
Fri Sep 29, 11:30 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Friday moved to block the Bush administration from building permanent U.S. military bases in
Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector, as it approved $70 billion for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The restrictions included in a record $447 billion military funding bill were a slap at the administration, and Republicans have stripped them out of legislation in the past.
Democrats and many Republicans say the Iraqi insurgency has been fueled by perceptions that the United States has ambitions for a permanent presence in the country. They have called on Bush to make a policy statement that the United States has no such plans.
President Bush has not said either way whether the United States wants permanent bases, but U.S. officials have predicted a lengthy U.S. military presence in Iraq.