The House of Representatives is set to vote Friday night on a resolution calling for a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. GOP politicians continue to criticize the proposal's sponsor, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a former backer of the war and a Vietnam veteran considered a hawk on defense.
MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.  I'm Michele Norris.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: The House of Representatives found itself in a partisan screaming match      today. It all stemmed from remarks made yesterday by Pennsylvania      Democrat John Murtha, who proposed a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.      Murtha is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and he's considered a hawk on      military matters. His proposal, though, was met by a hail of Republican      criticism.  Tonight the House Republicans decided to put Democrats on the      spot and offer an up-or-down resolution on whether to pull out of Iraq      immediately.  Democrats angrily said Republicans were deliberately      misrepresenting the position taken by Murtha. NPR's David Welna joins us      now to talk about what's been going on.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And, David, what is the Republican resolution that caused all this anger?</s>DAVID WELNA reporting: Well, Robert, it is one sentence long, and it reads as such:  `Resolved:      that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment      of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.'  And that is      all there is to it.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And is that what Congressman Murtha proposed?</s>WELNA: Not really.  Congressman Murtha proposed that there be a      withdrawal of US forces from Iraq as quickly as possible, but he did not      suggest that they be withdrawn from the entire region, however, that they      be pulled back to areas adjacent to Iraq, because he said that the      presence of American troops in Iraq is only stirring up more trouble and      making American troops targets of attacks.  This is radically different      from what Murtha proposed.</s>WELNA: And in fact, it was drawn up by the Republican chairman of the Armed      Services Committee, Duncan Hunter, who said that he did so because he did      not want troops in Iraq to get the impression that Congress was losing      its will to keep this war going, and we heard him on the floor say that.</s>Representative DUNCAN HUNTER (Republican, California; Chair, Armed      Services Committee): Those 140,000 personnel presently stationed in Iraq      are obviously getting an impression about the United States Congress and      its position with respect to all of the publicity that's emanated not      just from this body in statements that have gone out from this body, but      also from the other body that happened just a couple of days ago, and the      headline stories that emanated from that.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: That's Duncan Hunter, the Republican committee chair.  It was      obviously pretty heated there.</s>WELNA: It was quite heated.  The Democrats said that troops in Iraq      would be quite surprised to hear that Republicans were proposing an      immediate pullout. And a Republican who was recently elected, Jean      Schmidt from the southeastern part of Ohio, then got up and she read a      letter from a soldier stationed in Iraq that caused a huge outcry on the      floor.  Let's listen to that.</s>Representative JEAN SCHMIDT (Republican, Ohio): He asked me to send      Congress a message:  Stay the course.  He also asked me to send      Congressman Murtha a message:  that cowards cut and run; Marines never      do.  Danny and the rest of America and the world...</s>Unidentified Man: Gentlemen...</s>Representative JEAN SCHMIDT (Republican, Ohio): ...want the assurance from this body...</s>Unidentified Man: ...the House will...</s>Representative JEAN SCHMIDT (Republican, Ohio): ...that we will see this through.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: That was extremely heated in that exchange...</s>WELNA: Yes, and it...</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: ...that involved Congresswoman Schmidt.</s>WELNA: In fact, Democrats demanded that her words be taken down and, in      fact, they were; they were stricken from the record.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Well, what's going to happen with this resolution, and what's      really going on here, David?</s>WELNA: Well, I think Republicans are trying to hold Democrats' feet to      the fire.  They realize that Democrats are having a hard time finding a      common position on Iraq.  Many of them did vote for the resolution that      authorized use of force against Iraq.  They aren't of one mind about      this.  And I think Republicans saw this as a chance to show that those      division exist.  But Democrats are coming back and saying because they      proposed such an absurd resolution, in their words, they all plan to vote      against it.  And in the preliminary voting so far, that's exactly what      they've done.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Thank you, David.</s>WELNA: You're welcome, Robert.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: That's NPR's David Welna, speaking to us from Capitol Hill.