Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives announce that they will bring a resolution to the floor next week voicing disapproval of President Bush's Iraq war policy. House leaders plan to give all 435 members of the House five minutes to speak their mind about the war, which will add up to three long days of debate.
MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: The Senate couldn't do it, so now the House of Representatives is going to try. Democratic leaders of the House say they will bring an Iraq resolution to the floor next week, a bill voicing displeasure with the president's war plans. It will be similar to the one that's bogged down in the Senate. We'll have more on that in just a few minutes. But the House action will be different. Leaders there plan to give every member five minutes to speak their mind about the war. That will add up to three long days of debate.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: NPR's Andrea Seabrook begins our coverage.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: The House of Representatives hasn't directly debated the war in Iraq since before the invasion of Baghdad. Now, under the new Democratic majority, that debate will hit the House floor again next week. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said today that Congress will voice its disapproval of the way President Bush is executing the war.</s>Representative STENY HOYER (Democrat, Maryland): The resolution will clearly say we do not believe that the president's proposal of an escalation of 21,000 troops is the proper policy to be pursuing.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: The exact wording isn't out yet. It hasn't been written. Two committees working jointly in open sessions will draft the resolution this week. It'll be the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee. The resolution will then go to the House floor, where all 435 members of Congress will have a chance to speak on it. That's very rare, but warranted, says Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, and long overdue.</s>Representative RAHM EMANUEL (Democrat, Illinois): You cannot have an issue like the war, with what's happening both on the ground and in Iraq and with what the request by the president - with a record-breaking request for $245 billion for Iraq - and not at least have the members of the Congress of both parties have a voice and a vote on whether the escalation is the correct course.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: The resolution will express Congress's opinion, that's all. It'll be non-binding, like the resolution the Senate's been working on for several weeks. But Emanuel says not to mistake non-binding for unimportant.</s>Representative RAHM EMANUEL (Democrat, Illinois): Some say it's non-binding, therefore not meaningful. For all the energy going in to try to stop a vote on it, tells you how important it is.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: President Bush himself told Democrats gathered at a retreat this past weekend that the war in Iraq is sapping America's soul. Still, his administration has been lobbying hard to kill the Senate's version. House Democratic leaders have also watched that resolution and had hoped to follow it. But today, as the fate of the Senate resolution appeared uncertain, House Democratic leader Hoyer said they'll go forward next week no matter what.</s>Representative STENY HOYER (Democrat, Maryland): First of all, we were hoping to get something, product from the Senate. We didn't get a product from the Senate. And so now we are in the process of putting together a resolution that we think it will express the opinion of the majority of the House of Representatives.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: Hoyer said he expects the House resolution will attract Republican votes as well. And this is only the beginning. Several Democrats said today that this will be only the first in a series of steps Democrats will take in the coming weeks and months. The next target will be Mr. Bush's budget requests for some $245 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. With that, lawmakers may go beyond expressing an opinion and look to fundamentally change the way President Bush executes the war in Iraq.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK: Andrea Seabrook, NPR News, the Capitol.