By Jen DiMascio

President Bush was expected to sign the defense authorization bill into law on the same day he is scheduled to present his State of the Union address.

The Senate passed the bill for the second time Jan. 23, resolving a last-minute dispute over a provision regarding terrorism that could have tied up Iraqi government funds.

In advance of the president’s speech yesterday, congressional Democrats sought to ensure that strain on U.S. troops in Iraq from repeated rotations not get lost in news of improvement in news of reduced violence there.

“The improved security situations and the long overdue acknowledgement of where our country is strategically should make it easier to do what our military’s state of readiness requires–redeploy more of our forces from Iraq,” said Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) “Speeding up redeployment, while continuing to provide for the training and equipping of Iraqi forces, targeting Al Qaeda in Iraq, and protecting American reconstruction efforts will improve our strategic situation while also enabling the Iraqis to begin to take greater responsibility for their own security. They must fully realize that the United States will not be in Iraq forever.”

In a teleconference with reporters, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said he expects the president to tout the reduction of attacks in Iraq and pledge that he will listen to the advice of commanders in the field in March. According to Webb, the president will have to bring troop levels down to at least where they were before starting the surge, but added they should work to reduce the number below that.