WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 — Congressional leaders said today that they would undertake weeks of hearings and debate on whether to support military action against Iraq, a move that could delay a final vote until after the November elections.
"I'm more concerned about getting this done right than getting it done quickly," said Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic majority leader, a day after President Bush agreed to seek congressional approval before any invasion. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican minority leader, also made it clear that he did not favor forcing a quick vote, although on Wednesday Congressional and administration leaders had predicted that the debate could be concluded by early October.
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Even as Congressional leaders discussed an extended timetable, a United Nations official said today that international weapons inspectors had identified several nuclear-related sites in Iraq where new construction or other unexplained changes had occurred since their last visit nearly four years ago.
The official said inspectors were prepared to return to Iraq immediately. But even with the cooperation of the Iraqi government, the official said, it would take about a year for inspectors to verify that Iraq was not developing prohibited weapons.
Neither the timetable presented by the inspectors nor that of Congress, which could spill into the fall election campaign, is likely to satisfy administration officials, who have begun to press their case publicly that the threat presented by Iraq's weapons programs is urgent.
White House officials have said that their patience with Congress would not extend much past the current session. With no guarantee that members would return for a lame-duck, post-election session, officials said they expected a resolution of support before adjournment.
The critical questions now may not be the outcome of the debate about Iraq, but rather how long it lasts, and what effect it has on the general election campaign this fall. How long it would take for the administration to field the forces needed for operations against Iraq is also not clear.
In any case, the president told voters in Kentucky and Indiana today that he did not expect a debate on Capitol Hill to alter his position.
"One thing is for certain — I'm not going to change my view" about the need to remove Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, he said to applause in Louisville, Ky. "And my view is, we cannot let the world's worst leaders blackmail America, threaten America, or hurt America with the world's worst weapons."
As Congressional officials emphasized the need for international support before taking any action against Iraq, the White House said that Mr. Bush would talk on Friday to the leaders of Russia, China and France, before meeting Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain on Saturday afternoon at Camp David.
Together with the United States, those nations make up the permanent five members of the Security Council, and each could veto a security council resolution.
"This is about soliciting their views and explaining why he believes Iraq is a threat, and a threat that we have to deal with now," one senior White House official said. "It's a start. We're early in this process."
Such a deliberative approach by the lawmakers — at least three Senate committees will hold hearings — is not expected to undercut the pace of military planning, although crucial factors like mobilizing troops or deploying weapons in a war against Iraq could be greatly affected if Congress delays its support.
The Bush administration continued to pay close attention to the movement of troops and war-fighting equipment in and around Iraq.
Thomas E. White, the Army secretary, told a group of reporters today that the Army recently deployed weapons and supplies to a base in Kuwait near the border with Iraq as part of a training exercise to test both the equipment and the military's ability to move it quickly from one base to another.
Officials responsible for moving weapons throughout the area said a large volume of supplies had been shifting in and out of the gulf region.
Meanwhile, in southern Iraq today, allied warplanes attacked a command-and-control position at a military airfield about 240 miles west of Baghdad, military officials said. The United States Central Command said the strike was ordered after Iraqi forces had tried to shoot down American or British fighters that enforce the "no flight" zone over the area.
Still, the administration's most immediate concern involved persuading skeptical members of Congress to support its plans, which constitute uncharted political territory for both parties. About two dozen senators from both sides of the aisle were invited to the Pentagon today to discuss Iraqi policy with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence. Later in the day, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Tenet provided evidence of Iraqi military capability to the top four Congressional leaders.
Although Congressional officials had been optimistic on Wednesday about moving quickly through the debate on Iraq, today they slowed their timetable after a day of consultation with many skeptical members and committee chairmen.
Mr. Lott, the Republican leader, said that Congress might also need to give the United Nations time to deliberate the issue. A final vote in Congress may not come until this fall or even next year, he said.
"It could take a little more time than just two or three weeks," Mr. Lott told reporters this morning. "So we just have to see. I don't think we should put a time line on it. I think we should do what is necessary when it is necessary."
Mr. Daschle, who had earlier in the day complained that he had not seen sufficient evidence from the administration to justify an invasion, seemed somewhat more impressed after the closed-door briefing. Speaking to reporters, he called the meeting helpful, and he said he would brief his colleagues about it.
Many of those colleagues are equally hungry for information on Iraq's military capabilities and an explanation of why Mr. Bush believes Mr. Hussein would risk his power and his life in attacking the West. Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan and the chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, said his panel would hold hearings in late September and early October to hear from both administration officials and opponents of invasion. He said he learned little from today's Pentagon briefing and predicted that the hearings would last as long as necessary to satisfy committee members.
"If it takes a month or two to do the deliberation on this, it ought to be done, and in a way which is very thorough and careful," he said. "That's important and I believe there's time to do it right." The issue will also be taken up by the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees of the Senate.
Mr. Bush, at his appearances in Kentucky and Indiana, talked in a more colloquial way than he had before about why the United States, in his view, must move from a national security strategy of containment of nations like Iraq to one of pre-emptive action.
"My job is to not only chase down those who have hit, but to anticipate," he told a lunchtime rally in Louisville for Representative Anne M. Northup, who is running for re-election. "We're a battleground."
As part of his campaign to rally the American public, the president will be sending his highest-ranking aides out in full force this weekend to help make his case.
His vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense and national security adviser will appear on network and cable talk shows on Sunday. While their appearances will coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the questions they face, and the messages they offer, are certain to focus on Iraq.
