Support The Troops

Republican lawmakers rejected a proposal to require giving U.S. troops as much time to rest at home as they spend in theater overseas. Whatever happened to support the troops?

Chicago Tribune:

Throughout the day, Webb, Hagel and other senators pleaded for the well-being of the troops. They noted a sharp rise in the divorce rate in military families; they pointed to alarming suicide rates and they recounted missed birthdays, anniversaries and first steps of young children.

To be fair, not ALL Republicans voted against this bill, but all but just a few did (56-43) and Democrats couldn't get enough votes to override Bush's veto.

Earlier in the day, the Senate rejected a proposal to give military detainees the right to protest their detention in federal court, known as habeas corpus. The vote was 56-43, likewise four short of the 60 necessary.