The House, after four days of debate, passed a nonbinding resolution Friday disapproving of President Bush's plan to send additional soldiers to Iraq.
Democrats, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, said it was time to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
"The passage of this legislation will signal a change of direction in Iraq that will end the fighting," Pelosi (D-CA) said on the floor of the House Friday.
The final tally of the votes approving the resolution was 246-182.
The resolution was purposely kept simple and straightforward in an effort to win wide bipartisan support. But only 17 Republicans — some of whom had spoken in favor of the measure earlier in the week — voted for the resolution.
Some 400 members of the House took part in the debate over the resolution, in which democrats and republicans alike criticized the conduct of the war in Iraq, but differed over what course should be pursued from here.
Tomorrow, in an unusual Saturday session, the Senate will attempt to take up the same resolution the House passed. But Senate Republicans have promised a filibuster to prevent that.
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