Ellison votes for Iraq spending bill

Ellison speaks at U of M
5th District Rep. Keith Ellison.
Photo by Tim Rummelhoff, courtesy of the University of Minnesota Law School

(AP) - U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison voted Friday for a Democratic spending plan for the war that requires troops to leave Iraq before September 2008.

The House approved the measure by six votes.

Ellison, an anti-war lawmaker, has called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. But the Minnesota Democrat described the bill as the best chance to end the war.

The $124 billion bill would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but require that combat troops leave Iraq by September of next year.

The Minnesota House delegation split along party lines on the vote -- all five DFLers voted in favor of the bill, and all three Republicans votes against.

Some Democrats voted against the bill because they say it won't end the war immediately, while others said they were reluctant to take away flexibility from generals in the field.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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