War resolution gains momentum in House, Senate

WASHINGTON -- Democrats and Republicans in Congress began closing ranks Wednesday behind a resolution giving President Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq.

Bush hailed the development and suggested war with Baghdad could become "unavoidable" if Saddam Hussein does not disarm.

Full compliance with all U.N. Security Council demands "is the only choice and the time remaining for that choice is limited," Bush said, standing with top congressional leaders in the Rose Garden.

Bush struck a deal on the resolution with House leaders in the morning, and momentum quickly built behind it throughout the day. Leaders of both parties predicted passage, probably next week, by large margins.

"Mr. President, we delivered for your father. We will deliver for you," said Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. In January 1991, Congress authorized the first President Bush to use force to reverse Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.: "We disagree on many domestic issues. But this is the most important thing that we do. This should not be about politics. We have to do what is right for the security of our nation and the safety of all Americans."

Bush bends

As part of the deal with the House, Bush bent to Democratic wishes and pledged to certify to Congress -- before any military strike, if feasible, or within 48 hours of a U.S. attack -- that diplomatic and other peaceful means alone are inadequate to protect Americans from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

The resolution also would require Bush to report to Congress every 60 days -- instead of the 90 days suggested by the White House -- on matters relevant to the confrontation with Iraq. And it would reaffirm the policy embedded in U.S. law that Saddam should be overthrown.

Still, the resolution would give Bush wide latitude to act, with or without waiting for the United Nations.

The House International Relations Committee was beginning work on the measure Wednesday. An identical version was introduced in the Senate by a bipartisan group that included Warner and Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

Many Democrats and moderate Republicans remained unhappy with the wording, preferring to have stricter limits on the president's authority. But there was also a growing sense of resignation among critics that the president would get his way.

"In this place, everybody's pretty practical at the end of the day," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del. He said Senate Democrats remained divided, but that he doubted the momentum building behind the resolution could be slowed.

Biden dropped plans to try to have his committee consider an alternative he drafted with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., that would have put more emphasis on a U.N. role and made disarmament the only reason for confronting Iraq.

Many Democrats looked forward to getting the matter behind them -- in hopes they could refocus public attention on economic issues before the midterm elections five weeks away.