Wes Hickman (202-224-5972) or Kevin Bishop (864-250-1417)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today voted against the Levin-Reed amendment which would have begun withdrawing American troops from Iraq in 120 days and requires the removal of most U.S. troops within the next nine months.

The amendment failed by a vote of 47-47, 13 votes shy of the 60 needed for passage.

"Levin-Reed was a case of armchair generals in Congress substituting their collective military judgment for that of General Petraeus. .

"The Levin-Reed amendment, had it passed, would not have been welcomed news by our troops on the battlefield. Our enemies, on the other hand, are suffering mightily under the Petraeus strategy and would have rejoiced over this dramatic reversal in policy.

"At a time when we should be building on the momentum of the Petraeus surge, Levin-Reed would have undercut it. Levin-Reed took us back to the old, failed strategy which clearly did not work. I’m very pleased the Senate rejected this ill-advised change in U.S. policy."

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