Legislators Split Over Funding for Iraq, Afghanistan
Jewish Democrats in Congress were deeply divided by President Bush’s call for $87 billion in emergency funding for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Emergency supplementary appropriation bills for Iraq and Afghanistan passed the House of Representatives October 17 by a vote of 303-125 and the Senate the same day by a margin of 87-12.
The appropriation enjoyed overwhelming support from Republicans in both houses of Congress, but was opposed by many House Democrats. A total of 118 House Democrats voted against the measure and only 83 in favor.
Jewish House Democrats were somewhat more supportive of the appropriation than their party caucus, voting 13-11 in favor. In the Senate, Democrats voted solidly in support of the appropriation 37-11, as did Jewish Democrats by a vote of 7-2.
The three Jewish Republicans in Congress — Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor — all backed the appropriation. Vermont independent Rep. Bernard Sanders voted against it.
U.S. SENATE – S1689
| Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) | nay |
| Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) | yea | |
| Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) | yea | |
| Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) | yea | |
| Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) | yea | |
| Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) | nay | |
| Carl Levin (D-Mich.) | yea | |
| Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) | yea | |
| Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) | yea | |
| Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) | yea | |
| Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) | yea |
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – HR3289
| Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) | yea | |
| Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) | yea | |
| Howard Berman (D-Calif.) | yea | |
| Eric Cantor (R-Va.) | yea | |
| Ben Cardin (D-Md.) | yea | |
| Susan Davis (D-Calif.) | yea | |
| Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) | nay | |
| Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) | yea | |
| Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) | yea | |
| Bob Filner (D-Calif.) | nay | |
| Barney Frank (D-Mass.) | nay | |
| Martin Frost (D-Texas) | yea | |
| Jane Harman (D-Calif.) | nay | |
| Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) | yea | |
| Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) | yea | |
| Sander Levin (D-Mich.) | yea |
| Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) | yea |
| Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) | nay |
| Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) | yea |
| Bernard Sanders (Ind-Vt.) | nay |
| Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) | nay |
| Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) | nay |
| Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) | nay |
| Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) | nay |
| Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) | nay |
| Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) | nay |
Emergency Supplementary Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction Act 2004
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
