President Bush has again repeated his call for Congress to give him a war funding bill that does not contain a timetable for removing troops from Iraq.
Mr. Bush noted in his weekly Saturday radio address that because Congress has left for its spring break, the earliest a bill could reach his desk is late April. That is after lawmakers are due to return and work out a compromise between the House and Senate funding bills. Both chambers have passed versions of a bill funding the military but including a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Mr. Bush has vowed to veto any such bill. Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said in the Democrats' radio response that Mr. Bush should stop trying to bully Congress into doing things his way. He said the Democratic Party will do what the American people have asked for - bring the troops home from Iraq.
Mr. Bush said today that U.S. troops may soon feel the effects of the funding shortage. But an independent government report last week said the Army has enough money to fund its military operations in Iraq through July.