Thompson, Woolsey oppose Obama war spending bill

Press Democrat

The North Coast's two members of the House of Representatives, both Democrats, were among the 51 Democrats who voted against a $96.7 billion war spending and foreign aid bill on Thursday.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, opposed the measure that more than met President Barack Obama's budget request. It passed by a 368-60 tally as all but a handful of Republicans supported the president.
The measure would boost total funding provided by Congress for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars above $900 billion, the Associated Press said.
Woolsey, a founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus, said on the House floor that the funding would “sink us further into the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“Without a redeployment plan, our endless military presence will only serve to fuel anti-Americanism throughout the region and promote instability,” she said.
Thompson, whose district stretches from Napa to the Oregn border and includes northern Sonoma county, said, "I've been a longstanding opponent of funding the war outside of the budget process."
House Republicans supported the measure even though majority Democrats added almost $12 billion to Obama's $85 billion request.
Across Capitol Hill, a key Senate committee approved a companion $91.3 billion bill that sticks closely to Obama's war request and also includes $50 million for the Pentagon to begin the promised closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The issue of closing Guantanamo is addressed in the House measure as well â€" not with funding but with a promise that detainees from the prison will not be released on U.S. soil.