CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush said yesterday that he expects Congress will soon pass a resolution authorizing force against Iraq so that "we will speak with one voice."
"We refuse to live in this future of fear," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We are determined to build a future of security and peace for ourselves and for the world."
In recent days, as a few Democratic voices have arisen to counsel caution, the president and his aides have sought to portray White House concessions made last week to limit the resolution's scope as essentially the last word. The vote now is a done deal, the Bush administration is insisting, and will give the president a strong showing on Capitol Hill and aid the more difficult search for international consensus and support.
Aimed at winning crucial support from U.N. Security Council members Russia, France and China, each of which has a veto, a draft of a tough new U.N. resolution from the United States and Britain would give Iraq seven days to agree to its terms. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would then have to reveal quickly all weapons of mass destruction in his arsenal and give inspectors from the United Nations total access to verify the information, or face use of "all necessary means" against him, officials said.
For his domestic campaign, Bush picked up a new Democratic supporter yesterday, Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia.
"The time has come for the U.S. Senate to put the debate regarding a resolution supporting the president on Iraq behind us," Cleland said. "The president needs the strongest hand possible in assembling a coalition and pushing the United Nations to remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."
Congress hopes to take up a resolution next week that would give the president authority to use whatever means necessary, including military force, to eradicate the Iraqi threat to America.
"By passing this resolution, we will send a clear message to the world community and to the Iraqi regime that the demands of the United Nations Security Council must be followed," Bush said yesterday.
Negotiations continue on wording of the resolution.
Some Democrats, uncomfortable with giving the president open-ended authority, are seeking to put more emphasis on renewed U.N. inspections first and on requiring support from allies for any military action.
Top congressional leaders - Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican; House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican; House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat; and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat - are to confer by tomorrow afternoon.
Regardless, few doubt a positive vote on an authorization of force from Congress.
"We refuse to live in this future of fear," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We are determined to build a future of security and peace for ourselves and for the world."
In recent days, as a few Democratic voices have arisen to counsel caution, the president and his aides have sought to portray White House concessions made last week to limit the resolution's scope as essentially the last word. The vote now is a done deal, the Bush administration is insisting, and will give the president a strong showing on Capitol Hill and aid the more difficult search for international consensus and support.
Aimed at winning crucial support from U.N. Security Council members Russia, France and China, each of which has a veto, a draft of a tough new U.N. resolution from the United States and Britain would give Iraq seven days to agree to its terms. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would then have to reveal quickly all weapons of mass destruction in his arsenal and give inspectors from the United Nations total access to verify the information, or face use of "all necessary means" against him, officials said.
For his domestic campaign, Bush picked up a new Democratic supporter yesterday, Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia.
"The time has come for the U.S. Senate to put the debate regarding a resolution supporting the president on Iraq behind us," Cleland said. "The president needs the strongest hand possible in assembling a coalition and pushing the United Nations to remove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."
Congress hopes to take up a resolution next week that would give the president authority to use whatever means necessary, including military force, to eradicate the Iraqi threat to America.
"By passing this resolution, we will send a clear message to the world community and to the Iraqi regime that the demands of the United Nations Security Council must be followed," Bush said yesterday.
Negotiations continue on wording of the resolution.
Some Democrats, uncomfortable with giving the president open-ended authority, are seeking to put more emphasis on renewed U.N. inspections first and on requiring support from allies for any military action.
Top congressional leaders - Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican; House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican; House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat; and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat - are to confer by tomorrow afternoon.
Regardless, few doubt a positive vote on an authorization of force from Congress.