- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiators
in the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement on Wednesday on
a resolution authorizing use of military force against Iraq, and the White
House quickly gave its backing to the document.
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- In the Senate, a debate still simmered over the wording
of the text, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said
it will "continue to be the source of a good deal of discussion over
the coming hours."
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- The House resolution authorizes President Bush to use
military force "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate"
to defend the national security of the United States and enforce all relevant
U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
-
- The text makes clear the authorization for action applies
specifically to Iraq, and it drops language from a goal outlined in Bush's
own proposed resolution that military force would be used to restore peace
and security in the region.
-
- Some lawmakers had feared that reference would give Bush
a blank check to launch attacks throughout the Middle East.
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- It also adds a section supporting the president's efforts
to seek Iraqi compliance through the U.N. Security Council and requiring
Bush to inform Congress, before using force, that further diplomacy would
not protect U.S. national security.
-
- House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri,
talking to reporters after joining the three other key leaders of Congress
in a White House meeting, said the House resolution makes clear Iraq must
be dealt with militarily if diplomacy fails.
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- "I've said for a long time that Iraq is a problem.
It presents a problem after Sept. 11 that it did not before, and we should
deal with it diplomatically if we can, militarily if we must, and I think
this resolution does that," Gephardt said. The House is to debate
the resolution next week.
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- The White House was planning an afternoon event to celebrate,
with Gephardt and House Speaker Dennis Hastert to attend.
-
- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush believed
the House resolution "will make available the tools that he needs
to deal seriously with the threat." He said chances of bipartisan
passage of the measure were strong.
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- POST-CONFLICT PLANS
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- The memo also requires the president to report regularly
to Congress on military operations and planning for post-conflict activities,
such as peacekeeping.
-
- It was unclear at this point whether the Democrat-led
Senate would take up another version of the resolution.
-
- Assistant Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada
Democrat, said debate could start as soon as late on Wednesday, although
it was likely to bog down in a procedural snarl.
-
- A group of Senate Democrats said they may try to push
another plan drafted by Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar and Delaware
Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden that puts tighter limits on the use of force.
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- Daschle, angered a week ago at what he called Bush's
politicizing of the war on terrorism, said he did not negotiate resolution
language in the breakfast meeting with Bush, which also included Gephardt,
Hastert and Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.
-
- He said Lugar, Biden and Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of
Michigan were continuing to present their ideas on how to frame a resolution
to attract the broadest support in Congress.
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- "We'll continue to work to see whether we can find
some either procedural way with which to address the differences, or come
together on a resolution," he said.
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- He said he still expected a resolution to emerge that
receives broad support and "indicates our support for the United Nations'
effort and our support for the administration's effort in dealing with
Iraq."
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- Lott predicted that in the end, Bush will get the support
he needs. "I believe the Congress in a broad bipartisan vote will
give this president the authority to act in appropriate ways," he
said.
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- Trying to fend off a resolution that he said would give
Bush excessively broad war powers, Biden scheduled a committee meeting
for Wednesday to try to advance the alternative plan he is pushing with
Lugar. (With additional reporting by Joanne Kenen)
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