Collins helped set Iraq goals in war funding bill

WASHINGTON – The Iraq war supplemental funding bill approved by Congress on Thursday and signed by President Bush on Friday includes a provision requiring the Iraqi government to meet numerous “benchmarks” of progress in the coming months.

The provision, authored by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., requires the president to provide two progress reports to Congress, on July 15 and Sept. 15 of this year, on whether the Iraqis are meeting 18 benchmarks essential to achieving political reconciliation in Iraq, Collins’ office said.

The benchmarks include a requirement that the Iraqis increase the number of their security forces capable of operating independently; the enactment and implementation of de-Baathification legislation; the enactment of constitutional and electoral reforms; and passage of legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of oil revenues.

The provision also includes a measure authored by Collins that conditions the release of reconstruction funds to progress made by the Iraqi government. “If the Iraqis are not making progress, we should not continue to provide reconstruction funds. This sends a very strong message to the Iraqi leaders that the status quo is not acceptable. It also tells the Iraqis that our presence and our commitment in Iraq is neither open-ended nor unconditional,” Collins said in a statement.

Collins also said that if Bush’s strategy of deploying additional troops to Iraq, which she opposes, does not demonstrate significant results by September, then she believes that Congress should consider all options, including a redefinition of the U.S. mission in Iraq and a gradual but significant withdrawal of American troops next year.

The supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was approved 80-14 in the Senate. Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, voted for it. The measure passed 280-142 in the House. Democratic Reps. Michael Michaud and Tom Allen of Maine voted against it.