Democrats to focus on Iraq as polls sag

WASHINGTON -- With the immigration bill dead, troop withdrawal deadlines vetoed, and other high-profile initiatives stalled, Democratic leaders closed six months in control of Congress mired in low approval ratings and plotting a legislative blitz on an issue they once tried to escape: Iraq.

Defeated a month ago on a war funding bill, Democratic leaders had hoped to spend June delivering on prominent domestic issues, such as homeland security, ethics rules, and immigration.

Instead, they left Washington for a week long Fourth of July break with few successes to boast about and critical of Republican tactics that had stymied their efforts.

"Because of the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate, I'm not happy with Congress either," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.

On Thursday , parliamentary trench warfare helped torpedo President Bush's immigration bill.

Hours later, two of the same warriors -- Senators Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, and Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma -- blocked Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada as he tried to finish work on ethics legislation and a bill instituting most of the homeland security recommendations of the blue-ribbon committee that studied the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Over the weekend, Reid called on Republicans to support legislation that will force the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Starting next week, Democrats are planning weekly votes on the issue.

"Too many times, Republicans have stood in the way of progress instead of helping us lead the way," Reid said Saturday in the party's weekly radio address.

While some Republicans are "saying the right things on Iraq," they need to back up their words with votes. . . . Voting against a bill on a matter of principle is one thing," Reid said. "To go forward, we will need far more Republicans to put partisan politics aside and work with us for the American people."

While seeking their votes on the war, Reid accused GOP lawmakers of deliberately blocking ethics reform and enactment of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

"Republican obstruction has gotten so bad that now they're blocking bills that they actually support," he said.

Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana , a Republican, yesterday called for a bipartisan approach to scale back the US military involvement in Iraq.

Lugar was one of two Republican senators who declared last week that Bush's Iraq strategy was not working and that the US should downsize the military's role.

He was joined by Senator George Voinovich, Republican of Ohio.

Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation" yesterday, Lugar said Bush should consult Democrats and Republicans on a new strategy that includes ongoing talks with all Iraq's neighbors. Lugar has resisted Democratic calls for a deadline on troop withdrawal.

Reid last week dismissed recent congressional approval ratings as tied more closely to Washington under Bush and the Iraq war than any specific qualms with Congress.

A new CNN poll, touted by Democratic leaders, showed that while nearly half of the respondents disapproved of what Democrats had accomplished , 57 percent said Democratic control of Congress is good for the country.

But even Democratic pollsters have warned congressional leaders that they have to show they can govern effectively. To do that, Democrats plan to spend much of this month pressing Republicans to break with Bush on the war, and showing a dispirited public that they are committed to ending the war.

"There's a sense that we haven't brought change to Iraq, and it affects the environment overall," said House Democratic Caucus chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.

The Senate intends to move to a defense policy bill on which Democrats will again try to attach binding troop withdrawal timelines.

The proposals under consideration would demand greater accountability from Bush and the Iraqi government, standards for troop readiness, and a ban on permanent bases.

Lawmakers are moving to restore the rights of terrorism suspects to challenge their detention in federal court, and to close the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

House leaders plan to introduce parallel legislation on Iraq, even though they avoided Iraq-related issues when they approved their annual defense policy bill last month, saying they wanted to pass it quickly.

Senate efforts to pass a measure to deauthorize the war will resume next week.

"Though we failed in a particular action" to limit the war through the Iraq spending bill, House majority leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, said, "we're not stopping until a change in policy is effected."

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.