"This resolution may clear the conscience of some people, it may put political distance between others, but it does nothing for soldiers, it does nothing towards a U.S. victory, to benefit this country, or to improve the body politic," he said.

In a prepared statement Friday, Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said the debate over the resolution would only make things worse for the American troops. He voted against it.

"To the degree that it is significant, it is so only in that it enables the thugs, rapists, murderers and terrorists in their belief that they may succeed against our interests in Iraq and around the world," he said. "This debate does nothing but put American soldiers more at risk."

The president had no immediate comment on the House action. His spokesman said Bush was too occupied with other duties to watch the proceedings on television.

The rhetoric on the House floor Friday was emotional, sweeping and at times agonized, with orators on both sides speaking of honoring the dead, staying true to the nation's mission and respecting the Constitution. In a chamber that often sees a lone congressman addressing an empty chamber, many seats were filled, and particularly eloquent speeches were met with standing ovations. It was perhaps the closest Congress had come in three decades to the impassioned debates that animated the nation during the Vietnam War.

"The stakes in Iraq are too high to recycle proposals that have little prospect for success," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, in a rare speech from the House floor. "The passage of this legislation will signal a change in direction in Iraq that will end the fighting and bring our troops home."

Rep. Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican who served seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was equally impassioned as he wrapped up the debate, during which 390 of 434 lawmakers spoke. "Now it's time to stand up for my friends who did not make it home, and for those who fought and died in Iraq already," Johnson said in opposing the resolution. "We must not cut funding for our troops. We must stick by them." He ended his remarks with a salute.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., one of five new congressmen who are war veterans, talked about having to drive a Humvee with no doors down what was known as "Ambush Alley" in Baghdad.

"Half those names on the Vietnam (Memorial) wall are there after the civilian leadership in our country knew that it was strategically a mistake to stay there," he said. "But they didn't have the courage to stand up. This Congress is showing the courage to stand up."

The Senate's Republican leaders will try to block a vote in that chamber today with procedural moves, but a Senate action raises the possibility of a unified congressional response to a military move the White House considers the province of the executive branch.