After a rare all-night session, the United States Senate voted today at 11am EST on the Levin/Reed Amendment which would pullout United States troops from Iraq. Recording a final vote of 52 in favor and 47 against, the measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the Republican filibuster of the measure.
Cots were brought in for the Senators to catch snatches of sleep during the long night, while some slept at their apartments for short periods of time. Pizza was brought in for senators to eat.
Four Republicans senators, including both of Maine’s senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe voted with Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon
Had the bill passed, troops would have left Iraq 120 days after the vote, and would have been out of the country by April of 2008.
Last night during the all-night senate debate, Democratic Majority Leader from Nevada, Harry Reid, asked that the Senate vote on the bill this morning.
After the motion failed, Reid proposed that the Senate look at a series of Iraq proposals and make them subject to a simple majority vote, included the failed plan. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Minority Leader from Kentucky objected and Reid withdrew the legislation from the floor and the Senate moved on to discussing student loans and grants.
