On Wednesday, West Michigan congressman Vern Ehlers voted in support of two amendments to the defense authorization bill that would have restricted the ability of the Bush administration to attack Iran. In a 136 to 288 vote, Representative Ehlers voted in support of an amendment that would have blocked military action against Iran without the approval of Congress. Ehlers also voted for a more narrow amendment that would have prevented money authorized for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq from being used to develop a contingency plan for attacking Iran. That vote failed 202 to 216. In both votes, several Democrats voted against the amendments, despite the fact that they essentially affirmed the authority that Congress is granted in the United States constitution.
Congressman Pete Hoekstra of Holland, who has promoted an aggressive United States foreign policy, voted against the two amendments.
