Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold In Opposition to Writing the Iraq Supplemental Behind Closed Doors May 17, 2007 “I share the desire of my colleagues to pass a supplemental spending bill as soon as possible but when it comes to such significant legislation, we need full debate and votes, not backroom agreements. Ramming a symbolic bill through the Senate so that the actual bill can be written by a handful of people behind closed doors is unacceptable. The first supplemental passed by Congress was a step forward, but I hope that whatever emerges from the upcoming conference will not be a step back. Yesterday, we saw a significant shift in the Senate’s position on Iraq. With the majority of Senate Democrats now in favor of binding legislation to safely redeploy our troops, the pressure on the President is growing to end the misguided mission in Iraq.”

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