Senate Democrats to push for limits on role of U.S. troops in Iraq

February 23, 2007

Washington, D.C. - Senate Democrats will seek to replace the 2002 congressional authorization for military action in Iraq with a more narrowly defined measure that would limit the role of U.S. forces and set a goal to remove all combat troops by next March.

Senate Democrats will seek to replace the 2002 congressional authorization for military action in Iraq with a more narrowly defined measure that would limit the role of U.S. forces and set a goal to remove all combat troops by next March, a senior Democratic aide familiar with the proposal told CNN Friday.

The White House made it clear that it would oppose any move to rewrite the authorization, which could set off a constitutional tussle over whether, or how much, Congress can circumscribe President Bush's authority as commander in chief.

A draft resolution sponsored by Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Carl Levin of Michigan would repeal the 2002 authorization for the Iraq war and replace it with new language allowing U.S. forces to take on narrower, specified roles, including fighting al Qaeda terrorists, training Iraqi forces and helping Iraq defend its borders.

The resolution would call for combat troops that are no longer needed for these more limited operations to be removed from Iraq by March 2008, as the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended.

Democratic leadership sources said no decision has been made on when the resolution might be introduced, nor has a decision been made on whether to move it through the Senate as a free-standing measure or attach it to other upcoming legislation.