in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats in her chamber would back a non-binding resolution "declaring that President Bush's decision to send additional troops to Iraq is 'not in the national interest of the United States.'" The Washington Times reported Pelosi "has made clear her disdain for the 'surge' proposal" since before Bush unveiled it last week, but her latest remarks "were her first indication of the language that she will want the House to approve." After three days of debate, on February 16, 2007, the House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 63 on a vote of 246 to 182. The resolution stated: Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq. Following passage in the House, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) convened an unusual Saturday session of the Senate on February 17, 2007, to consider an identically worded resolution. However, the measure was tabled when a cloture motion failed on a 56–34 vote (four votes short of the 60 votes needed to end debate). Pelosi announced that despite opposition to the surge, she would not push for blocking congressional funding for additional troops. Although then-Senator Hillary Clinton opposed the surge, she later allegedly said in private that her opposition to the surge had been for domestic political reasons. Implementation Personnel changes In conjunction with the surge, the Bush administration implemented several personnel changes, as follows: CENTCOM commander– Navy Admiral William J. Fallon replaced General John Abizaid as CENTCOM commander Commander of Multinational Force Iraq – counter-insurgency expert General David Petraeus replaced General George Casey as Commander of Multinational Force Iraq. US Ambassador to Iraq and ambassador to the United Nations – Bush announced the appointment of US diplomat Ryan C. Crocker as the new ambassador to Iraq. Zalmay Khalilzad, then US ambassador to Iraq, was nominated to replace Alejandro Daniel Wolff as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Khalilzad was confirmed by the Senate, he was the first Muslim to serve in the position, and he was the highest serving Muslim-American