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STORY: As George Bush pushes for congressional backing on his war against Iraq, congressional representatives are returning to their districts to tap public sentiment on the issue.

Local representative Sheila Jackson Lee, is in town for a Citizen Summit on the Iraq issue to be held tomorrow. She describes the administration's position on Iraq as outlined in Bush's speech to the United Nations earlier this week:

"And the resolution is written as a singular role for the United States that no matter what happens, to give unfettered authority for a unilateral missle attack on Iraq."

Lee says such an important delegation of power requires the involvement of the American people. A Town meeting at the University of Houston Hilton tomorrow, sponsored by Lee, is an effort to gather responses from her constituents.

In a press conference with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Bush said he expects members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to pass the resolution to use force against Iraq. But, Representative Lee, along with other about 20 other democrats will likely disagree:

Still, critics suggest that democrats may offer only token opposition against Bush during this election year unless they receive overwhelming support from their constituents.

[In Galveston, congressional representative Nick Lampson is another democrat who is not in favor of aggression against Iraq.]

At a protest this evening in front of the Galveston Federal Building, [Rep. Nick] Lampson's constituents voiced similar sentiments. Organizer Mark Murich:

"We've got about 100 people out here holding signs saying: 'End the sanctions against Iraq,' 'No war with Iraq,' 'Stop the War,' and 'No Blood for Oil'"

Murich explains his opposition to Bush's policy on Iraq.

"We think he's leading us down a path of decades of war and intervention even as he announced today that preemptive strikes are now the policy of the United States. War, we think, is a failure of diplomacy and George Bush at the current time is most for it, and a sad example of that action."

[Brackets indicate material that was mistakenly edited out of this piece]

Renee Feltz, KPFT News Houston

E-mail Renee Feltz at chickpea_@ziplip.com .