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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today made the following statement regarding Senate passage of the emergency supplemental spending bill.  Chambliss voted against final passage of the bill, because it contains a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.

 

“Congress does not need to micromanage the war, and funding for our troops should not be delivered with strings attached.  The continuous efforts to set a surrender date undermine our military and are contradictory to the Senate’s unanimous support of General David Petraeus, who is currently executing the new strategy in Iraq.  We need to give that strategy a chance to work without tying the hands of those who are carrying out that strategy.

 

“We have military leadership on the ground in Iraq recommending against imposing timelines.  We have civilian leaders who have significant military experience who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and every single one of those individuals, whether they were Republican or Democrat, has said imposing timelines is not the way to go.  A surrender date will simply embolden the enemy.

 

“I also believe it is unfortunate that the Democrats refused to allow me to call up the bill I introduced this morning to provide immediate funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program funding shortfall.  They are well aware that the President intends to veto the supplemental, and the time to address the shortfall is now and it is unfortunate that the Democrats continue to delay.”

 

The bill Chambliss introduced today would cover the 14 shortfall states until the end of the year.  States that cover adults under the SCHIP program would receive a reduced match rate for covering non-pregnant adults.  The bill would provide an offset.  Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is a co-sponsor of the bill.