Washington: Senate Democrats fell short Saturday in their effort to open floor debate on a non-binding resolution opposing President George W. Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. Although 56 senators supported moving forward, the chamber required 60 votes to proceed, leaving the measure four votes short. Thirty-four senators voted to block the debate.
All four Democratic presidential hopefuls in the Senate, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Chris Dodd, voted to allow debate. Republican Chuck Hagel, a prominent congressional critic of the troop buildup, also voted in favor. Fellow Republican and presidential contender Sam Brownback was the only White House hopeful to vote against proceeding.
Senator John McCain, a strong backer of increasing troop levels and a leading Republican presidential candidate, skipped the vote entirely, having previously called it 'meaningless' while campaigning in Chicago.
It was the second consecutive Senate defeat for Democrats on the Iraq debate within a fortnight. One day earlier, the House of Representatives had passed its own symbolic measure disapproving the troop increase, by a margin of 246 to 182.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in February 2007, in its own words.