A congressman and a U.S. senator on visits Thursday to Lawrence offered differing forecasts on how long American forces will remain in Iraq now that hostilities are subsiding.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., predicted the war would cost more than the $79 billion Congress has appropriated.

“I’m afraid that may be just a down payment,” he said. “I expect our troops will be there for several years.”

But U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said the United States would be out of Iraq relatively quickly.

“We want to liberate it for the Iraqi people and as soon as we can, we want out, we’re leaving,” Brownback said. “This is for the Iraqi people to take over.”

Brownback said an interim Iraqi council could be running the society fairly soon and that it could take 18 months to “get a constitution and then a full-scale election of Iraqi leaders.”

Moore said the invasion of Iraq was a worrisome precedent that could prompt other countries to more readily engage in pre-emptive strikes against enemies as the United States did against Iraq.

“Why shouldn’t every other nation be allowed to do that?” he said.

Moore, whose district includes the eastern half of Lawrence, met with public school students and educators, as well as the Lawrence Kiwanis Club.

The congressman voted for a resolution authorizing use of force against Iraq, but he said President Bush should have worked harder to resolve the problems diplomatically.

He said the cost of the conflict was a factor in his opposition to Bush’s proposed $726 billion tax cut. The weak national economy and growing federal deficit are other reasons, he said.

“My preference probably would be no tax cut right now,” Moore said.

He voted for Bush’s tax cut two years ago.

Brownback said Iraq, because of its vast oil resources, should be able to pay for most of its own reconstruction.

Brownback said there was also “$40 billion in the oil-for-peace program” generated by Iraqi oil production since Iraq was put under international sanctions. That money is being held in United Nations accounts.

Those monies can be put toward rebuilding Iraq and reopening schools and roads, Brownback said. 832-6372.