Washington, DC – One of the leading voices in Congress against the occupation of Iraq, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today joined a majority in the House in rejecting over $100 billion in funding that would have continued the US military occupation of Iraq well in to next year.  While a number of Republicans voted ‘present’ as a means of protest, the measure was only defeated after a significant majority of the Democratic Party came together to vote against it.

“Today the House took the bold step of standing up to President Bush, and rejected yet another blank check for his failed occupation of Iraq.  Instead, we sent a message to the President that we will no longer stand idly by as his head in the sand approach to Iraq continues to drive our country straight into the ground.

“While much of the attention will inevitably be focused on the parliamentary shenanigans of the House Republicans, what’s really important is that this vote shows that if the President won’t bring our troops home from Iraq, the Democrats will.

“As someone who has opposed this war from the very beginning, and has worked day in and day out to bring it to an end, I can honestly say that this vote shows how far the anti-war movement has come.  We’ve never been able to get this many votes against funding before, and it demonstrates that the momentum is on our side.  The American public is demanding that we bring our troops home from Iraq, and the Democrats in Congress are listening.”