House Democratic leaders said that they will push legislation to set a deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. That is expected to be part of a larger war spending bill that also would include about $4 billion for farmers who have suffered weather-related losses.

Farm-state members from both parties have made disaster aid a top priority for the last year. Several Republicans said last week that adding the money to a controversial war bill is not the way to get it.

“It’s almost like they are trying to bribe us,” said Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Republican who has pushed for the disaster aid package. “I think it’s wrong to hold farmers hostage to (Democrats’) political philosophy on Iraq.”

Likewise, Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., considers farm disaster assistance his top agriculture priority this year.

But he said he’s disappointed that it is part of a spending bill that will be “very controversial.”

Republican Reps. Barbara Cubin of Wyoming and Devin Nunes of California said they are willing to vote against the disaster aid.

Nunes, who represents citrus farmers affected by a January freeze, said he won’t vote for the bill if it contains any deadlines or other restrictions on troops or generals. “I don’t sell my vote to put soldiers in harm’s way,” said Nunes, adding that voters in his strongly Republican district would understand that.

Cubin’s state of Wyoming has been hit by an ongoing drought and she pledged to use her “political capital” to get disaster dollars during a hard-fought re-election last year. But she issued a strongly-worded statement Thursday indicating she would vote against it if necessary. “I can tell you this: I will never vote for any bill that abandons our troops in the field of battle,” she said.

Democrats were more supportive of combining the two issues. North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy said he supports the legislation, which also would add $1.2 billion to Bush’s request for military operations in Afghanistan and $3.5 billion for veterans’ health care and medical programs at facilities such as the recently criticized Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

“This resolution signals very clearly that there will be an end to the U.S. carrying the full combat load for the war in Iraq,” Pomeroy said, adding that he doesn’t think the disaster aid was included to garner votes. “This is the first spending bill to come along” in the new Congress, Pomeroy said.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., was less forthcoming about the Iraq resolution but has long supported the disaster relief. She said she has not yet decided how she will vote, but told reporters Thursday that Democratic leadership is “on the right path to effectively threading this needle.”