Senator Susan Collins recently voted against a filibuster that blocked a vote on a proposal authored by Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed calling for an abrupt withdrawal of troops from Iraq. She indicated, however, that she would have voted against the Levin-Reed amendment in its current form because of her opposition to some of its provisions.
“I am opposed to a filibuster of the Levin-Reed amendment," Senator Collins said. "Consistent with my position throughout the entire Iraq debate, I believe that the Senate should have an opportunity to vote on all the policy alternatives on Iraq."
"The debate on Iraq has been marred by harsh rhetoric and partisan gridlock. We need to forge a bipartisan strategy that redefines the mission of our troops and sets the stage for a significant but responsible withdrawal of American combat troops over the next year.
"I urge Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle to allow us to proceed to the bipartisan proposal that 14 of us have cosponsored to adopt the unanimous recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. This offers the best opportunity for a breakthrough in the stalemate over Iraq policy," Senator Collins added.
“During the past seven months, I have called for a change in strategy in Iraq, and I have strongly opposed the President’s decision to send additional troops to Iraq. Therefore, I will also continue to press for consideration of a bipartisan amendment offered by Senator Ben Nelson and myself which would immediately require the President to change the mission of our troops away from combat and toward counter-terrorism operations, border security, and training Iraqi forces."
Below is a history of Senator Collins’ cloture votes. Cloture requires 60 votes:
2/5 – Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 470 (Levin) – S. 470 expresses a number of Sense of the Senate provisions, including that the Senate disagrees with the `plan' to augment our forces by 21,500, and that our overall military, diplomatic, and economic strategy should not be regarded as open-ended but rather as a new strategy conditioned upon the Iraqi government's meeting delineated benchmarks agreed to by the Iraqi Prime Minister. It also amends the United States Policy in Iraq Act to require the President to report monthly to Congress respecting specified aspects of U.S. policy and military operations in Iraq until U.S. combat troops are redeployed from Iraq. Failed 49-47; Collins voted YES (Senators Collins and Coleman were the only Republicans to vote YES.)
2/17 – Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 574 (Reid) -- The Senate had a rare Saturday session on Feb. 17 to vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 574, which is a Reid bill that expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect U.S. Armed Forces members who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and (2) Congress disapproves of President George W. Bush's decision announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Iraq. The bill amends the United States Policy in Iraq Act to require reports every 30 days on specified aspects of U.S. policy and military operations in Iraq until all U.S. combat brigades have been redeployed from Iraq. Failed 56-34; Collins voted YES.
3/14 – Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S.J. Res. 9 (Reid) – Passed 89-9; Collins voted YES.