They Voted For You: Iraq Deployments - Update

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted late Thursday "to give U.S. troops guaranteed time at home between deployments to Iraq," The Associated Press reports.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the "Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act."

"The House measure would require that regular military units returning from the war receive at least as much time at home as they spent in Iraq," the AP article said. "Reserve units would get a home stay three times as long as they spent in the war zone."

It prevailed 229-194.

"Bush threatened to veto the measure," AP reports. "Six Republicans broke ranks to support it and three more voted 'present' rather than take a firm position."

Update: The AP article also notes that "Republicans said -- and Democrats did not deny -- that the measure would complicate the Pentagon's efforts to maintain current troop levels."

"Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif., said the legislation was ''a backhanded attempt to force a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.'' He noted the requirement for time at home did not apply to troops deployed to the war in Afghanistan. "If this were a sincere effort," he said, "it would apply to all deployments,"" the AP reported.