Senate may vote again on dwell-time measure - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Senate may vote again on dwell-time measure

The Senate could take another vote within weeks on a narrowly blocked plan to guarantee that combat troops spend as much time at home as they do deployed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that the so-called “dwell-time” amendment has support from 57 senators and is one of several Iraq-related initiatives he will try to bring to a vote.

The dwell-time amendment had the support of a majority of the Senate, but it never came to a direct vote because Republicans used a parliamentary maneuver that required at least 60 votes to cut off debate and force the issue.

Reid said he thinks the outcome will be different this time. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who did not vote in July while recovering from medical problems, should bring the number of sponsors to 58 if there are no defections from the July vote. Reid said he hoped at least two more Republicans would also vote for the plan.

Sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the dwell-time amendment would establish a new military policy preventing anyone from being ordered back into a combat zone unless they had spent as much time at their home duty station as they had on their previous deployment. Service members could volunteer to return to combat.

Another vote on Webb’s amendment is part of a larger Reid plan to offer a series of Democratic and Republican amendments on Iraq that would require only a majority vote to pass, not the 60 required if opponents try to block it. In similar situations in the past, the Senate has set up a so-called “king-of-the-hill” situation in which amendments are stacked in a series of votes, and the amendment that gets the most votes is the only one that passes.

Reid laid out no specifics. He said he will discuss his planned votes with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell said it will take a bipartisan agreement to pass needed legislation, but he would have to know more before making any agreement.

Also on Tuesday, a bipartisan group of representatives asked House leaders to set aside partisan differences to support a common Iraq strategy.

A letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House minority leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, asks the House to “unite behind a bipartisan strategy to stabilize the country and bring our troops home.”

The letter is signed by Republicans Michael Castle of Delaware; Scott Garrett of New Jersey; Thomas Petri of Wisconsin; and Charles Dent, Jim Gerlack and Phil English of Pennsylvania. Democrats who signed were Robert Brady of Pennsylvania; Dennis Cardoza of California; John Tanner of Tennessee; and Allen Boyd and Tim Mahoney of Florida.

“It is absolutely crucial that we stabilize Iraq and transition the combat mission to the Iraqis,” the letter said. “Any future legislative proposals considered in the House must reflect a bipartisan approach to this conflict.”

DISCUSS: The dwell-time proposal