Dems Push for Additional Troop Funds
Democrats Poised to Add Money for Troop Readiness and Health Care to Iraq Funding Bill
By ANDREW TAYLOR
WASHINGTON Mar 6, 2007 (AP)— House Democrats are pushing to add billions of dollars to President Bush's $93.4 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $900 million for troops suffering from brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
An additional $2.5 billion would go to strengthen training and readiness for forces not deployed in war zones, and $1.4 billion would go to address housing allowance shortfalls.
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The Democratic add-ons for military health care, readiness and mine-resistant vehicles are aimed in part at making the bill more attractive to lawmakers, including Republicans who might be considering voting against the measure over language that would curb deployments of troops to Iraq who have had insufficient rest or training or who already had served there for more than a year.
Democrats would permit Bush to get around those restrictions, but only by issuing potentially embarrassing waivers of troop readiness standards.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2928789