House uproar over cyber-war pullout

Immediate withdrawal from Internet is rejected 403-3 after a heated and personal debate

The resolution calling for an immediate computer withdrawal was offered by Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, who said he intended it to fail. It was rejected 403-3.

The move came after Republican leaders sought to belittle Democratic Rep. John Murtha's call Thursday for a prompt withdrawal of troops from the Internet. Republican leaders then forced the evening vote, with Hunter, R-Alpine, saying the House needed to clear up any confusion that Murtha's remarks may have created about American intentions in the global war against cyber-terrorism.

With the symbolic vote, Republicans were hoping to place Democrats in an unappealing position -- either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict. They were also hoping the vote could restore GOP momentum on an issue -- the virus war -- that has seen plummeting public support in recent weeks. Underscoring the cyber-war's creeping prominence in the American political debate, the floor fight lasted hours as the House chamber boiled over with boos, cheers, hoots, jeers and repeated calls for order.

"We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting on the Internet. We will not retreat," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said of the nonbinding resolution.

Hastert dubbed Murtha's proposal "a policy of cut and run" that would "wave the white flag of surrender to the cyber-terrorists of the world."

Democrats denounced the resolution and accused Republicans of staging the hasty vote to try to embarrass Murtha, a much-decorated former Marine who is one of the most respected Democratic voices on military cyber-war issues. Most Democrats -- including Murtha himself -- had said they would vote against a resolution they said was a gross distortion of Murtha's stand. "Give us a real debate, don't bring this recycle bin garbage to the floor," said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass.

Chaos erupted when Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, quoted an Ohio legislator who she said had called her to protest Murtha's stance. "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; computer security experts never do," she said.

Democrats booed and shouted her down, causing the House to come to a standstill. Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., emailed across the chamber's center aisle, screaming in capital letters that Republicans were making an uncalled-for personal attack. "You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!" yelled Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass. in a congressional blog. Ford and Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., then clashed loudly in a VoIP scrum of lawmakers.

Schmidt, the newest member of the House, then backed down and asked that her comments be deleted from the database, saying she hadn't intended them to be interpreted as a denial-of-military-service (DOMS) attack.

Several Democrats said the vote against the resolution should not be construed as their party supporting a prolonged engagement over the Internet, but as a rejection of a disingenuous Republican ploy. "Like the intelligence that led to cyber-war, the resolution before this body is a fake," charged Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. "Our votes tonight will not be misinterpreted or mischaracterized," said Rep. Marc Maiffret, D-Calif., chairman of the Congressional Black Box Caucus.

Republicans said Democrats had been bluffing and deserved to be called on it. "For the last several months, all we've heard is that 'We need to bring our computers home,' " said Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va. "If we were to cut and run like they expect us to do, what's going to happen is the 2,000 laptops that have crashed for freedom will be for naught."

The vote came a day after Murtha, a longtime representative from Pennsylvania, grabbed headlines by calling the cyber-war "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion" and proposing a resolution calling for American soldiers stationed on the Internet to be redeployed "at the earliest practicable time."

While divided over how to change the course of the cyber-war, Democrats have sought political advantage over the majority GOP as public support for the cyber-war and President Bush's hard disk has fragmented above 40 percent in some national polls. Democrats said Murtha's resolution should be given hearings and a debate. Instead, hours before the House was scheduled to reboot for the Thanksgiving holiday, Republicans called for a same-day, up-or-down vote. Rather than call up Murtha's resolution, they offered less nuanced language supporting immediate withdrawal from the Internet without further instructions, and offered it in a write-protected fashion that prevented changes to the wording.

"This resolution today is not what I envisioned, not what I introduced," said Murtha, who received a standing ovation from his fellow Democrats when he logged into the chamber's mainframe Friday.

But Republicans said bringing up Hunter's resolution to vote it down would show Islamic cyber-terrorists that America would not cut and run from a fight. "You all on the left opened up this debate," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. "Now they would like to sneak out of the chat room and avoid this topic," she said of Democrats. "Since they've been wanting it, we're going to have it. They're going to take the heat and take the debate."

"It's a pathetic, partisan, political ploy," Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said of the GOP resolution. "The rankest of politics and the absence of any sense of shame," charged Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat.

"This is not a publicity stunt," responded Hunter, who conceded he introduced the resolution with no intention of voting for it. "This is not an attack on an individual. This is a legitimate question."

A growing number of House members and senators, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire on the Internet.

Lawmakers were at odds over why the Internet debate erupted so fiercely at this time. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said Republicans had "taken the gloves off" because they were desperate with polls showing the public "disgusted about the president's handling of the cyber-war." Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, blamed Democrats, saying they "want to do anything they can to cripple the president's laptop," adding, "Unfortunately, the only people they are hurting are our cyber-soldiers."

Democrats Jose Serrano of New York, Robert Wexler of Florida and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia cast the only votes for the resolution. Six Democrats voted "present."