WASHINGTON -- It started as a one-man protest on the House floor by a hawkish Democrat disgruntled with his president's strategy in Iraq.

But the weekly ''Iraq Watch,'' spearheaded by Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, has since found strength in numbers. A half-dozen Democrats now take the floor regularly to lambaste the White House at the start of Congress' legislative week.

''I was frustrated,'' said Hoeffel, D-Pa. ''I thought my own party's leadership was timid on Iraq. And I just wanted to start talking about it I thought we needed to be more vocal.

''So I started on my own and found, when I started, other guys were interested,'' Hoeffel said. ''We're gaining speed.''

The vitriol remains constant during the hourlong discussion as the Democrats hone in on Bush administration policy, from the search for weapons of mass destruction to sending in NATO and United Nations peacekeepers. Some of the back-and-forth conversation is tinged with humor, other parts with sarcasm.

Earlier this month, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., used the Iraq Watch to lambaste White House finger-pointing in the State of the Union furor over claims that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa for a nuclear weapons program.

The blame for that claim, which was based on a British report and has since been challenged by U.S. intelligence officials, was initially shouldered by CIA Director George Tenet, who said he should have raised objections to that sentence in an advance copy of the president's speech. On Tuesday, Stephen Hadley, President Bush's deputy national security adviser, apologized for allowing the report into the address.

Emanuel's beef, after Tenet apologized?

''How one person is responsible ... as we would say back in Chicago, that dog just will not hunt,'' railed the former Clinton administration aide.

Quipped Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., one of the Iraq Watch regulars: ''Do they really say that in Chicago?''

''Periodically, on the northwest side, we have a couple of dogs that hunt,'' Emanuel said.

For the most part, however, the debate seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Iraq Watch is held during floor time designated specifically for Democrats, meaning that Republicans generally don't bother wading in. Moreover, the debate usually begins in the evening, after most lawmakers have left for the night.

Representatives of the White House and in the office of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who is generally responsible for managing the House floor, said they were unaware Iraq Watch even existed when asked for comment.

Iraq Watch did pique the interest this week of Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., who was presiding over the chamber during the debate on Monday.

''A vigorous, healthy debate over the reconstruction of Iraq can play a vital role in the long-term success of our nation's policy in the Middle East,'' Harris said in a statement when asked about her impressions of the debate.

She added: ''We must all ensure that such debate does not degenerate into attacks designed to score cheap political points, however.''

At its roots, Iraq Watch follows a well-worn path on the House floor of lawmakers looking to shake things up, said Heritage Foundation political analyst Michael Franc. But the most prominent debates generally have been led by conservative Republicans such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who planted the seeds for his 1994 Contract With America in similar floor speeches in the mid- to late 1980s.

''They went down every night and absolutely hammered the policies of the then-Democratic (led) Congress,'' Franc said. Such a tactic ''has been used more effectively by conservatives,'' he said. ''But that's not to say there's a monopoly.''

For Hoeffel, Iraq Watch also provides a televised spotlight on the national C-SPAN cable channel as he runs for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania next year. But he insists his rhetoric is not aimed at scoring political points, maintaining that he is unaware where his potential Republican opponents stand on some of the debate's finer points.

Hoeffel voted last fall to authorize the use of U.S. force in Iraq, but has since accused the Bush administration of straining relationships with international allies through ''cowboy diplomacy.'' As a Senate candidate, Hoeffel will face the winner of a Republican primary next year between incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., both of whom also voted to approve force in Iraq.

''Hopefully, it's interesting for people to listen to,'' Hoeffel said. ''They may not agree with it, but hopefully it's a discussion that helps to educate people and bring up stuff. And we're going to stick with it.''

On the Net:
Rep. Joseph Hoeffel: http://www.hoeffel.house.gov/

Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press

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