President Bush won resounding bipartisan praise Tuesday for a speech explaning his Persian Gulf policy as a leading Democrat warned Iraq's leader that if he starts a war, ``we will finish it.'' But Democrats showed less enthusiasm for portions of the president's address to lawmakers that emphasized the inability of congressional budget negotiators to reach a deal on the deficit. Moments after Bush assured Congress that Iraq's aggression against Kuwait would fail, House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., responded in the official Democratic reaction: ``The president has asked for our support. He has it.'' Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, of Kansas, said, ``If there are any fence-sitters on the president's decisons in the Middle East, this speech ought to push them off the fence.'' Dole said Bush reminded lawmakers that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ``has sounded the wake-up call on the defense front. It's a little premature to be spending a peace dividend when we're deploying 140,000 troops on the sands of Saudi Arabia.'' Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a frequent Bush critic, was just as effusive on the Persian Gulf policy, saying Congress ``has real respect for what has been achieved by the president in marshalling the international community.'' But Kennedy was among Democrats expressing some discord over Bush's comments that ``Most Americans are sick and tired of endless battles in the Congress and between the branches over budget matters.'' ``The use by the administration of this crisis in order to enhance the defense budget,'' Kennedy said, ``will not be tolerated or accepted.'' Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, ``Democrats are quite angry'' about Bush's remarks on the budget, and added, ``If the president and the Republicans think that because of the Persian Gulf they are riding high and can get their way on a budget agreement, that's not going to happen. This speech didn't help on the budget.'' Bush was called ``a courageous leader'' by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H. said the president gave ``a very tough, steely speech. He just drew the line. It's important that the American people continually be reinformed and reinforced as to what the stakes are here.'' Rep. Larry Smith, D-Fla., a frequent critic of Republican policies, backed the president's prediction that Saddam Hussein's aggression would fail, saying he hopes Saddam ``gets the message and begins to act on it.'' But he said Bush could have could have acted more quickly in trying to get American civilians out of Kuwait and Iraq before they became hostages. That remark did not sit well with House Republican Whip Newt Gingrich, of Georgia, who countered, ``I don't know of any practical method by which we could have intervened once the invasion took place.'' House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin, D-Wis., said Bush broke little new ground, but ``essentially laid out in one document a very comprehensive argument for our position in the Gulf.'' Gephardt contrasted his party's backing for the administration with criticism of Germany and Japan for not doing enough to support Operation Desert Shield. While concentrating on the United States' response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Gephardt also stumped for the Democratic position in crucial budget talks, reminded Americans of Bush's new willingness to raise taxes, and called for cuts in expensive defense programs. And he indirectly criticized Bush and his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, for the lack of an energy policy during the past decade. Gephardt said the United States was in the Persian Gulf ``not simply for oil, or to save emirs and kings, but to defend the most fundamental values of a more stable and decent world.'' ``Firmly, clearly and unequivocally, wemust say to (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein: Let our people go. Let Kuwait go. And if you start a war, know that we will finish it.'' Declaring that the nation's vital interests are at stake, Gephardt said ``We cannot and will not permit the invading forces of a fanatical regime to control half of all the oil reserves which are the lifeblood of the world economy.'' Criticizing German and Japanese contributions so far for Operation Desert Shield, Gephardt noted that those countries, along with members of NATO, ``depend far more heavily on Mideast oil than we do.'' ``When countries like Egypt can stand beside us, when young Americans stand on front lines, only miles from the threat of poison gas, the least the Japanese and Germans can do is support us _ and not just with words; they must respond to our potential sacrifice of lives with at least a financial sacrifice of their own.'' Referring to closed door budget talks underway at Andrews Air Force Base, Gephardt said Democrats offered cuts in domestic programs but ``will never abandon the cause of working families.'' He contended Bush has given a ``commitment to raise taxes,'' and said the higher tax burden must be borne by wealthy Americans. Without specifically mentioning the Republican administrations of Bush and Ronald Reagan, Gephardt criticized the nation's free-market energy policies of the past decade. He said the nation ``must not be permanently faced with a choice between standing up against aggression or standing still in gas lines.'' He also pushed hard for proposed Democratic cuts in the defense budget, saying the planned ``Star Wars'' anti-missile system, the radar-evading B-2 bomber and the MX missile ``are costly systems designed for a Cold War that we have already won.''
