Washington - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today blasted the Republican filibuster of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA)'s amendment to the Department of Defense Reauthorization Bill. Webb's amendment, which Menendez co-sponsored, requires that active-duty troops and units have at least equal time at home as the length of their previous tour overseas, and sets a minimum 1-to-3 year ratio for National Guard and Reserve members and units. The amendment failed a cloture vote 56-41, mainly along party lines.
"The very least we can do for the brave men and women who carry out their orders with exquisite skill and bravery in an unmanageable situation in Iraq is give them enough time to catch their breath and reconnect with their loved ones. Republican senators, except for seven who are up for reelection, would not even let them have that.
"In essence, they have voted once again to stay the course - no change to the president's failed war policy, no alteration to this dead-end course, not even to give our troops some rest. American soldiers are not pawns - they are our best and bravest and they deserve better than this."
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