WASHINGTON - Billions of dollars in agricultural disaster aid are tangled up in House legislation that would withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by next year, creating a dilemma for some farm-state members of Congress.

House Democratic leaders said Thursday 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 Thursday 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."

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.

Some liberal Democrats are reluctant to vote for more war funding. And President Bush has said he will veto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan if it doesn't significantly change.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who heads the House Armed Services Committee and played a key role in crafting the bill, refused to speculate on whether farm disaster relief would encourage those on the fence to vote for the measure.

"You just hope that they look at the whole bill and see what's good for our country," Skelton said. "It's late in the game but we need the disaster relief for rural America - we know that."

Pomeroy said it will be a tough fight.

"The Iraq war is simply the biggest controversy before this Congress and this country," Pomeroy said. "So there's going to be an awful lot of debate on this package before it becomes law."