Two More US Senators Support Warner Anti-‘Surge’ Resolution

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Two more U.S. senators have signed on to support Sen. John Warner’s resolution criticizing U.S. President George W. Bush’s troop buildup for Iraq, The New York Times reported Thursday on its Web site.

Backers of the resolution proposed by Warner, R-Va., will likely need to attract at least a dozen Republicans to reach the 60-vote total required to overcome a filibuster or other obstacles for passage.

The two new backers are Sens. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

Biden authored his own resolution, which was approved by the Foreign Relations Committee, which he chairs, last week.

“The bottom line of our resolutions is the same: Mr. President, don’t send more Americans into the middle of civil war,” the newspaper quoted Biden as saying.

The Republican leadership in the Senate “intends to mount vigorous resistance to any plan that rejects” Bush’s troop buildup, the newspaper said, and “has concentrated in recent days on trying to prevent Republicans from joining” Warner, whose revised resolution has drawn support from both sides of the aisle.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has also joined in support of Warner’s resolution, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Colins, R-Maine and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.

Debate on the Warner resolution is scheduled for next week, the newspaper said.