Graham-McCain Amendment To Defense Appropriations Bill

In July 2007, Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate introduced several amendments relating to the war in Iraq as part of deliberations on the defense appropriations bill.

Senate Amendment 2078 - Introduced by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Jon Kyle (R-AZ)
The Graham-McCain Amendment required longer respite between tours of duty for units and members of the Armed Forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Regular armed forces personnel would have a minimum 12 months between deployments; reserves, five years.

Withdrawn after roll call vote on cloture motion failed (41-55-4).

Democrats and Independents voting for cloture:
Lieberman (ID-CT)

Republicans and Independents voting to oppose cloture:
Collins (R-ME), Hagel (R-NE), Sanders (I-VT), Sessions (R-AL), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Sununu (R-NH), Voinovich (R-OH)

Those not voting:
Brownback (R-KS), Cardin (D-MD), Johnson (D-SD), Vitter (R-LA)



Amendment Text

SA 2078. Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. McCain, and Mr. Kyl) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; as follows:

    At the end of subtitle C of title X, add the following:

   SEC. 1031. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DWELL TIME BETWEEN DEPLOYMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) the wartime demands placed on the men and women of the Armed Forces, both in the regular and reserve components, and upon their families and loved ones, since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, have required the utmost in honor, courage, commitment, and dedication to duty, and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make in the defense of our nation will forever be remembered and revered;

    (2) members of the Armed Forces who have completed combat deployments require as much certainty as possible about the amount of time they will be at their home stations before commencing a subsequent extended operational deployment; and

    (3) the goal, consistent with wartime requirements, for dwell time between extended operational deployments of members of the Armed Forces should be--

    (A) for members of the regular components of the Armed Forces, no less 12 months between deployments; and
    (B) for members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, no less than 5 years between deployments.    

Congressional Record - 11 July 2007