English

A united Congress backing a new Iraq war strategy is the only sure way to "stabilize the country and bring our troops home,"according to a letter signed by U.S. Rep. Phil English and 10 other lawmakers.

English, R-3rd, on Wednesday said the letter represents an attempt to forge a bipartisan solution toward a responsible withdrawal of American troops.

"We need to bring Republicans and Democrats together,"he said. "If we want to be successful on the war on terror we need a bipartisan dialogue, or at least to find common ground."

The letter sent Tuesday to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, urged an end to "political in-fighting over the war."

The four-paragraph missive comes the week before a key progress report is to be delivered by the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

In addition to English, Republicans signing the letter were Reps. Jim Gerlach and CharlesDent, both of Pennsylvania; Michael Castle of Delaware, Scott Garrett of New Jersey; and Thomas Petri of Wisconsin.

Democratic signatories were Reps. Robert Brady of Pennsylvania; Allen Boyd and Tim Mahoney, both of Florida; Dennis Cardoza of California; and John Tanner of Tennessee.

"We should not wait any longer to come together in support of a responsible post-surge strategy to safely bring our troops home to their families," according to the letter.

But the group of 11, English said, has endorsed no specific strategy of its own.

"We need to have a working dialogue,"he said. "That's the intent of the letter. We need to restore bipartisanship. That's what the American people want."

English, who backed the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, has since criticized the White House for its conduct of the mission. In February, he opposed President Bush's so-called "surge"strategy to deploy an additional 21,000 troops.

But a month later he joined fellow Republicans in a party-line vote in which the Democratic-controlled House approved a timetable for bringing American troops home from Iraq. The Senate, however, defeated that plan.

English, meanwhile, has remained steadfast in his support of recommendations unveiled late last year by the independent Iraq Study Group.

Among the recommendations in the bipartisan commission's 96-page report was a call to begin withdrawing U.S. combat units from Iraq by early 2008 and step up diplomatic efforts in the region.

Congress is to resume debate on Iraq in connection with more than $150 billion in new war spending, after Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker next week give their reports on military and political progress in the country.