Senator: Delay health care to focus on Afghan war

November 29, 2009

WASHINGTON — Postpone the health care overhaul until next year so Congress can concentrate on how to pay for President Barack Obama's expected plans for expanding military operations in Afghanistan, a leading Republican senator said Sunday.

Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said a sharp focus is needed for Obama's new strategy for the 8-year war and how much it will cost. Many issues should be considered, he said, including the possibility of raising taxes to pay for operations in Afghanistan.

"The war is terribly important," Lugar said. "Jobs and our economy are terribly important. So this may be an audacious suggestion, but I would suggest we put aside the health care debate until next year, the same way we put cap and trade and climate change, and talk now about the essentials: the war and money."

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said health care legislation is at a critical stage and passing it is too important to the economy. The Senate is set to begin debate Monday on health care.

"I think we're in the midst of probably the most significant debate and conclusion with legislation that we've ever had," Reed said. "We have to go ahead and conclude this debate."

During a national address Tuesday night from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Obama is expected to announce an increase of up to 35,000 in U.S. forces to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency, stabilize the Afghan government, and provide more training for Afghan security forces.

The bill for this expanded commitment is expected to be around $75 billion annually, raising concerns among the president's Democratic allies that the higher costs will derail important domestic initiatives.

Reed said the increase in forces is necessary to blunt the Taliban and giving Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government the ability to follow through on commitments to stem corruption and protect the Afghan people.

"They made commitments left and right," Reed said. "Now they have to carry those commitments through."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he also supports sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

"The whole world is watching what we're doing there," Graham said. "This is not just any place on the planet. This is the place where the Taliban took control after the Russians left, aligned themselves with al-Qaida and attacked this nation and killed 3,000 Americans."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he is concerned about the growing cost of the war and wants to see more international cooperation so the U.S. isn't footing the bill on its own.

"I've got a real problem about expanding this war where the rest of the world is sitting around and saying, 'Isn't it a nice thing that the taxpayers of the United States and the U.S. military are doing the work that the rest of the world should be doing?'" Sanders said.

Lugar and Reed appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," while Graham and Sanders were on ABC's "This Week."