GOP Finding Iraq War Request a Tough Sell [View All]

Democrats List High-Cost Items; Loans Considered

Congressional Republican leaders struggled yesterday to hold together President Bush's $87 billion emergency war spending plan, as momentum built among Republicans to demand that Iraqis repay much of the cost of their country's reconstruction.

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously passed Bush's full request for military and reconstruction spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the panel put off the tough fights, and even some Republicans on the committee predicted a difficult fight on the Senate floor, especially over proposals to fund Iraq's rebuilding through loans, backed by Iraqi oil.

Before the war, senior administration officials, including Vice President Cheney, said reconstruction costs would be minimal, since Iraq sits on the second largest oil reserves in the world. But the White House has since proposed spending more than $20 billion this fiscal year on Iraq's rebuilding, and Bush opposes efforts to fund that reconstruction through loans. The administration argues the move would undermine U.S. credibility in the region and harm efforts to stabilize Iraq.

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House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) stood behind the president, telling reporters yesterday he is wary of piling on to Iraq's existing debt. But if Bush loses on the issue in the Senate, Republicans concede he may not be able to hold his ground in the House. Conservative Republicans were the first to broach the loan idea.



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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24935-2003Sep30.html