Iraq Tops Busy Congressional Agenda

Lawmakers Return To Work Ahead Of Key Iraq Progress Report; Sen. Larry Craig Is Absent

(CBS/AP)  Like many schoolchildren, members of Congress were back at their desks Tuesday after a summer break. Unlike the students, lawmakers will immediately face major tests: on Iraq, children's health care, a home mortgage crisis and the budget.

The Senate reconvened at noon EDT and started work on a military construction and veterans spending bill. The first voted wasn't scheduled until 5 p.m., so few senators were on the floor. The House was scheduled to reconvene later Tuesday afternoon.

Minutes after the session opened, several dozen anti-war protesters were escorted by police from the spectators' gallery after standing silently as Majority Leader Harry Reid brought up the subject of Iraq. Three wore T-shirts of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Senators returned to work, but not Idaho Republican Larry Craig, who will soon resign, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss. A posting on Craig's Senate Web site said it "has not been determined" when and if he will go back to Washington.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell helped push Craig out after he pled guilty to an alleged sexual solicitation in a men's room. "The episode is over. We'll have a new senator from Idaho at some point in the next month or so and we're going to move on," McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday.

McConnell denied a double standard for taking no action against Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, saying his dealings with a D.C. call girl ring resulted in no criminal charges and happened when he was a congressman, not a senator.

Democrats, meanwhile, were divided over the next step to take on Iraq. This month could be pivotal to the mission's future.

House and Senate hearings on Wednesday and Thursday will examine reports detailing intractable problems in Iraq's political situation and security forces. Next Monday, lawmakers are to hear long-awaited testimony from Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker.

President Bush is expected to use Petraeus' report to boost the argument that his strategy of increasing U.S. troop strength has improved security in Iraq, and that an abrupt reduction would be a disaster.

The same report will also be cited by anti-war Democrats who say military success has little relevance given the failure of Iraqi politicians to stop sectarian fighting and create a viable government.

Those clashing views could come to the House and Senate floors in September in debates over the Pentagon's budget or a separate White House request for $147 billion in emergency spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Democrats, who control both chambers, say votes will come with strings attached. Just what strings could depend on positions Mr. Bush takes following the Petraeus report.

Some Democrats insist on a definite withdrawal date, possibly by next spring. Others are searching for more modest steps that would not face a presidential veto.

Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement that he remained "absolutely committed to changing course in Iraq and bringing our troops home."

Many Republicans said through spring and summer that they wanted to hold off until September and the Petraeus report before acting to change policy.

"Now that time has come," Reid said, adding he is "willing and ready to help my Republican colleagues keep their word" by looking for bipartisan solutions to Iraq.