Dear Mr. President

According to TPM Cafe, almost 70 U.S. House members including one Repub (see below) sent a letter to Bush yesterday stating they'd no longer vote for funding of the troops in any form except if the money were spent exclusively on withdrawing them from Iraq. So about quarter of the Dems now support cutting off money for the troops if Bush tries to keep them in Iraq, complicating the passage of another war-spending bill this Fall unless it requires a timely exit from Iraq. Unfortunately, I don't see Rep. Tom Udall's name on the list of those who signed the letter, do you? The message:

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.

More than 3,600 of our brave soldiers have died in Iraq. More than 26,000 have been seriously wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than 4 million have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war and U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $500 billion, despite assurances that you and your key advisors gave our nation at the time you ordered the invasion in March, 2003 that this military intervention would cost far less and be paid from Iraqi oil revenues.

We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR)
Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC)
Lois Capps (CA)
Rep. Julia Carson (IN)
Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY)
Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO)
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO)
Rep. Steve Cohen (TN)
Rep. John Conyers (MI)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
Rep. Artur Davis (AL)
Rep. Danny Davis (IL)
Rep. Diana DeGette (CO)
Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA)
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA)
Rep. Bob Filner (CA)
Rep. Barney Frank (MA)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL)
Rep. John Hall (NY)
Rep. Phil Hare (IL)
Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY)
Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX)
Rep. Paul Hodes (NH)
Rep. Michael Honda (CA)
Rep. Rush Holt (NJ)
Rep. Hank Johnson (GA)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
Rep. John Lewis (GA)
Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY)
Rep. Ed Markey (MA)
Rep. Betty McCollum (MN)
Rep. Jim McDermott (WA)
Rep. James McGovern (MA)
Rep. Gwen Moore (WI)
Rep. Jim Moran (VA)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY)
Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA)
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN)
Rep. John Olver (MA)
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ)
Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Rep. Donald Payne (NJ)
Rep. Charles Rangel (NY)
Steve Rothman (NJ)
Rep. Bobby Rush (IL)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL)
Rep. Bobby Scott (VA)
Rep. David Scott (GA)
Rep. Hilda Solis (CA)
Rep. Pete Stark (CA)
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA)
Rep. Ed Towns (NY)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY)
Rep. Maxine Waters (CA)
Rep. Diane Watson (CA)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA)
Rep. Albert Wynn (MD)