House looks to move new defense authorization this week
Democrats still have not made a formal announcement of their floor strategy to deal with President Bush's unexpected veto.
House Democratic leaders hope to get a new fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill completed and over to the Senate this week, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday.
Democrats still have not made a formal announcement of their floor strategy to deal with President Bush's unexpected veto of the Pentagon policy measure late last month, but aides continued to say the likely course of action will be to hold a floor vote tonight to return the bill to the House Armed Services Committee.
The panel would then act on the provision that prompted Bush's rejection of the measure. House Democratic leaders plan to discuss plans for the bill at a meeting this afternoon.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee also expect to meet before tonight's scheduled floor vote to bring members returning from the Christmas break up to speed.
On Dec. 28, Bush surprised lawmakers from both parties with a pocket veto of the bill over concerns that a little-publicized provision would tie up the assets of the current Iraq government in court claims filed by Saddam Hussein's victims. The most likely fix, aides said, will be to provide a waiver for Iraq's current government while still allowing victims of state-sponsored terrorism to sue other foreign governments in U.S. courts.