WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders of the U.S. Congress headed to the White House Wednesday to negotiate a compromise Iraq-funding bill.
President George W. Bush on Tuesday vetoed a $124 billion war-spending bill that included a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
Democrats that control Congress don't have the votes to override the presidential veto and said they were willing to discuss a compromise without the troop-withdrawal language, CNN reported. A meeting of Democratic and Republican leaders was set at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
Bush said he was "confident that with good will on both sides we can agree on a bill."
CNN said the compromise plan could include benchmarks to measure progress by the Iraqi government.
"I do think there are some kinds of benchmarks that might well achieve bipartisan support and might actually even conceivably be helpful to the effort in Iraq," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats are willing to find "common ground" with the president, "but there is great distance between us right now."
