U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, voted against a measure that would have required President Barack Obama to provide Congress with a time frame and completion date for ending U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan.
The measure, which was offered as an amendment to next year’s defense appropriations bill, drew the support of 26 Republicans, as well as 178 Democrats. Freshmen Republican lawmakers formed the largest GOP voting bloc in favor of the amendment. It failed narrowly, on a vote of 204-215.
Casey Bowman, Herrera Beutler’s spokesman, said in an email: “Jaime would like our troops out of Afghanistan as soon as practicable but not in a way that turns our troops into targets. Putting an artificial timetable on withdrawal not only jeopardizes Afghanistan by giving terrorists a designated time when we’ll leave, it endangers our troops in the field by encouraging the Taliban to increase its presence in anticipation of our predefined exit date.”
