Washington, D.C. – Congressman Edolphus Towns, 10th District New York, voted today to override President George W. Bush's veto of the "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health and Iraq Accountability Act."  This veto ignores the wishes of the American people who have called for a new direction in Iraq.  The bill would require accountability from both the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government.  Though it received a majority of support, it did not receive the two-thirds required to override the veto.

“Today, I was proud to vote once again to support a plan that would take Iraq in a new direction,” said Congressman Towns.  “After four years of the President’s stay-the-course strategy, we must provide a responsible plan to get our troops home and force the Iraqi government to meet basic benchmarks for stability.”

The Iraq Accountability Act supports our troops by providing $4 billion more than requested by the Bush Administration.  This includes additional funding for military health care, military housing, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for our troops, and a Strategic Reserve Readiness Fund.  The measure honors our veterans by providing $1.8 billion not requested by the President to begin meeting the unmet health care needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

This legislation established a responsible timeline for the redeployment of U.S. combat troops from Iraq with redeployment beginning in October 2007, at the latest and the goal of redeployment completion by March 2008.  This represents the approach recommended by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which has also called for a goal of redeployment being completed by March 2008.

“It is time for accountability,” said Congressman Towns.  “For the first four years of the Iraq war, the Republican-led Congress failed to exercise its Constitutional responsibility and hold the Bush Administration or the Iraqi government accountable.  This has led to disastrous results for the American people.”  “The President should have signed this bill, in order to get these needed resources to our troops,” concluded Congressman Towns.

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