WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, noticed a change in the atmosphere during his visit to Iraq over the weekend, saying it was different from when he made his first trip there a year ago.

"We are seeing measurable progress," Hatch said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. "I believe that we have made headway."

Hatch said he walked through a street market in Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad, and saw what was "unthinkable a few months ago" — vendors actually selling items and children playing.

"The children were beautiful," Hatch said.

He said there was less violence, more intelligence bringing in information, and the security situation was better than it was a year ago.

Hatch and fellow lawmakers Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., still wore helmets and bullet-proof vests and rode in armored vehicles, but he said the local residents and the soldiers seemed to be cooperating.

Hatch visited Iraq Friday and Saturday just before the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Jordan on Sunday.

At the forum, Hatch and Smith spoke on a panel titled "Iraq: The Regional Context," along with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh; Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al Hashimi, who is head of the Islamic party in Iraq; Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Al Khatib; and Mohammad J.A. Larijani, director of the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The senator also met with Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, as well as some soldiers from Utah, during his visit to Baghdad.

"They were positive about what was going on," Hatch said of the soldiers.

He could not go into many details about who else he met or talked to during the trip, but said it was "clear that everyone we chatted with felt that setting a deadline was not the right thing to do."

Democrats have been pushing for a troop withdrawal date, but President Bush vetoed the bill containing it.

Hatch said Congress needs to get a supplemental spending bill passed.

"I don't think they should be playing these games forever," Hatch said.

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