WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush was returning to the White House Friday to continue efforts to gain domestic and international support for strong action against Iraq following a two-day absence in which he led the nation in remembrance of last September's terrorist attacks and challenged the United Nations not to become "irrelevant."
On Capitol Hill, where Bush's address Thursday to the U.N. General Assembly received favorable reviews, lawmakers were tussling with the question of producing a resolution backing any U.S. action -- including a possible pre-emptive military strike -- against Iraq before adjourning next month in advance of midterm elections.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., indicated Thursday that a vote on a resolution could be possible before the break, but said "it's very important for us to be deliberate."
"We want to do it right, we don't care if we do it quickly, and I think that if we do it right, we will know when the time is right to have this debate on the Senate floor and to make a decision in regard to actions by the United States."
Daschle said the administration had not yet asked for a resolution to back possible administration action, and that it was important that it answer a number of questions before a resolution was acted upon, including who would fill the political vacuum in Baghdad if Saddam Hussein were removed and the repercussions that military action against Iraq would have on the region and America's war against terrorism.
He also said it was important to ascertain international support and cooperation for action against Iraq before a commitment of U.S. resources.
"Let's wait and see what the international response is. Let's wait and see what level of support we get before we come to any conclusion," he said.
Republicans Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate minority leader; and Sen. John McCain of Arizona stressed the importance of a resolution sooner rather than later, even if it meant there were no hearings prior to a vote.
The Republicans would have a draft resolution ready later this month, they said.
"I think it's vital for the Congress to show the world that we back this president and will give him the authority he needs to protect the American people and the world community," Lott said.
Lott said the Republican resolution would be broadly worded, supporting both re-establishment of international arms inspections to discover and destroy suspected Iraqi stockpiles and production of weapons of mass destruction and a military response.
It will, Lott said, give the president full authority to "take all necessary actions to make sure that those weapons are found and destroyed, and of course, that this threat that he poses is dealt with," Lott said.
"We should show that we are united in our support of this president and in the goals that he has laid out. That's part of our leadership role in the world."
Bush, in his speech to the General Assembly, laid out a prosecutorial document of Iraq's "decade of deception" and evasion in adhering to U.N. resolutions imposed following Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, prompted by its earlier invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
The government of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, he said, was an outlaw regime and posed a grave threat to world peace in its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, its previous use of such weapons, and support for terrorism.
The world, he added, could not wait for a regime such as his to possibly provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations.
Bush challenged the United Nations to act, but also made it clear that the United States would not sit idly by if it failed to do so.
"All the world now faces a test," Bush said, "and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?"
McCain predicted Thursday: "Saddam Hussein is as likely to allow a robust and effective weapons inspection regime as I am to be the next astronaut. He's not going to do it," further fueling talk of possible military action, including unilateral action by the United States.
Bush later this week is to meet at Camp David with Italy's prime minister, who with the leader of Spain has said he supports military action against Iraq if Saddam does not come to heel.
