WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense Wednesday with the support of both of North Dakota's Democratic senators.

Gates was approved unanimously the day before by the Senate Armed Services Committee after testifying before the panel. The former CIA director told senators the U.S. is not winning the war in Iraq and there could be a "regional conflagration" if the country is not stabilized.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said they were impressed with Gates after meetings with him in the last week. They joined in the 95-2 Senate vote to confirm Gates to the Cabinet post.

"He was very forthcoming," Conrad said after meeting Wednesday with Gates. "He made clear that things were not going well in Iraq and we need to change course. At this pivotal time, it is important that we get new leadership at the Department of Defense as soon as possible."

The Iraq war was a major issue for voters last month in the election that saw major Democratic gains. The day after Republicans lost the House and Senate, President Bush announced that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was stepping down as Pentagon chief and Gates was the choice to take over.

Conrad, the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said he will work with Gates to try and contain rising war costs and ensure that troops are adequately funded. Conrad said the war is costing the United States more than $8 billion a month.

"I hope we can craft a congressional budget that funds a strategy for Iraq that allows us to finish our job and exit with honor," Conrad said.

Conrad voted against Gates in 1991, when he was nominated by Bush's father to become CIA chief. Like many other Democrats, he said, he voted against Gates because of his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s. He said last week that time has passed and "this is a different position."

Dorgan said that Gates' nomination together with Wednesday's release of a high-level commission report on Iraq's progress gives President Bush "a rare opportunity."

Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," the bipartisan Iraq Study Group said in a report that called for an urgent diplomatic attempt to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008.

"Fresh thinking and new perspectives are urgently needed, and today the president is being given the opportunity for both," Dorgan's statement said.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., said the study group also called for increased support for efforts in Afghanistan.

"Having just returned from there, I can say that this is critical," Pomeroy said. The people of Afghanistan need support, and the administration should "implement this recommendation immediately," he said.