Democrats Say They'll Use Budget Pinch to Seek Iraq Drawdown

WASHINGTON — Congress's top Democratic leaders promised Friday to keep pushing to get U.S. troops out of Iraq by focusing on the war's impact on the strained federal budget.

"For the cost of one day in Iraq — $330 million — we could fund nearly 1,000 (National Institutes of Health) research grants to find cures and treatments for the deadliest and most debilitating diseases," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said in an address at the National Press Club.

"For the cost of about one week in Iraq, we could provide 400,000 young Americans with a scholarship for a full year at a public university," she said. "For the cost of just over one month in Iraq, we could provide health care to 10 million American children for an entire year."

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada restated their opposition to the war in a "pre-buttal" to President Bush's final State of the Union address, scheduled for 9 p.m. EST Monday.

Reid said he expects Bush to once again "tell us the war has turned a corner and victory is in sight."

But Bush has been saying that for five years, he said, and "the mission is still not accomplished."

On other topics, the Democrats called on the administration to prohibit the use of waterboarding in interrogations, close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, and develop new policies for dealing with Pakistan and Iran.

Reid said that because of U.S. treatment of detainees, the nation's reputation has been harmed. "Our first goal as a country must be to restore that moral authority," he said.

In response to questions from the audience, Pelosi defended Democrats' decision not to press for more food stamps in the bipartisan economic stimulus package unveiled Thursday.

By giving up on that issue, Democrats helped ensure that the package would move through Congress quickly, she said. The legislation promises to deliver tax rebates to 117 million middle class and working poor families by late spring.

Rather than keep fighting for a few more dollars in food stamps, "I thought it was far more important to put $1,000 in the hands of that mom who needs it," Pelosi said.

She also said Democrats would continue to try to get more food stamps included in a farm bill.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino outlined for reporters some of the points Bush plans to make Monday.

"He will highlight recent successes in Iraq and the troops that are returning home without replacement as a result of that success," she said. "He will call on Congress to make sure that our troops have what they need, when they need it, for the mission they've been asked to do."

While Pelosi and Reid were laying out their goals for the last year of the Bush era, the president was doing likewise for House Republicans meeting at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.

Bush said his decision not to insist that Congress make permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts was a concession necessary to get the stimulus package on a fast track. But he said he would continue to fight for the tax breaks in separate legislation.

"The best thing we can do to deal with uncertainty in the economy is make the tax cuts we passed permanent," he said.