The House of Representatives will almost certainly approve a resolution Friday opposing the president's escalation of the war in Iraq. In a statement released just a few minutes ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he will move for a "clear up-or-down vote" on the House measure the very next day.
"For nearly four years, the Republican-controlled Senate stood silent on the president's flawed Iraq policies and watched as the situation deteriorated into a civil war," Reid says in the statement. "The American people have chosen to change course. Democrats have chosen to change course. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have chosen obstruction. Almost every Republican who expressed concern about the escalation chose to block the Senate from debating the issue."
Reid says Saturday's vote will be "another opportunity" for those Republicans to "let their actions speak louder than words." Over the past several days, there have been signs from some anti-escalation Republicans that they might not join their GOP colleagues in blocking a vote on an anti-escalation resolution this time around. Among them: Republicans Sens. Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snowe have been threatening to block the Senate's February recess -- it was supposed to start this weekend -- unless the parties can reach an agreement on a plan to consider the Warner-Levin resolution that didn't make it to the Senate floor earlier this month.
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