Fallon Says Boswell Mistaken on Iraq Funding Votes

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Contact: Stacy Brenton, Communications Director 515-822-3029 (office)

Des Moines – Today, Ed Fallon questioned the accuracy of Congressman Boswell’s remarks to a group of high school students on Friday, March 7th. The 22 local students went to Boswell’s office to ask him to stop funding the Iraq War and to withdraw the troops.

According to the Des Moines Register article [Students hold sit-in, urge Boswell to support U.S. troop withdrawal, March 8th, 2008], “when high school students recently occupied his Des Moines office, Boswell said, ‘I advocate for an orderly plan. In the last year or so, I’ve voted five or six times for that.’”

When a student questioned Boswell’s vote for H.R. 2206 (05/10/07), Boswell “assured the group the bills he voted for this year were for withdrawal of troops”. Fallon says, “Unfortunately, Congressman Boswell is mistaken, and the facts say something quite different.”

· While Boswell did vote for a bill with timetables, the President vetoed it (H.R. 1591 on 03/23/07). Then two months later, on the next funding bill calling for a timetable for partial withdrawal (H.R. 2237), Boswell sided with Bush and voted against it, even though House Democrats supported the bill 169-59 (05/10/07).

· Boswell also voted in favor of H.R. 2206, which continued funding without a timetable for troop withdrawal (05/10/07).

· Again in June, Boswell voted for H.R. 2764, which also continued funding without a timetable for withdrawal (06/22/07).

Fallon says, “The truth is, Congressman Boswell has consistently supported President Bush, from his vote in October of 2002 in favor of the original resolution to authorize the Iraq War through November of 2007. In fact, most of Boswell’s Democratic colleagues in the House voted against the authorization to go to war (House Democrats voted against the war resolution 126-81). The only exception was Boswell’s vote on March 23^rd, 2007. When Boswell says he voted to end the war five or six times in the last year or so, I have no idea what he’s referring to,” said Fallon.

Fallon notes that in November 2007, Boswell did vote for a funding bill that contained language for a partial withdrawal (H.R. 4156 on 11/14/08). Fallon says, “This vote came after he learned that I was planning on running against him. While I’m pleased to see him move in the right direction, this vote seems motivated more by political expediency than by a sincere change of heart. The truth is Boswell has repeatedly sided with Bush and House Republicans against the majority of his fellow Democrats and the clear desire of the American people to end the Iraq War. “