Washington ? House Democratic leaders said Thursday that members will vote next week on a resolution stating opposition to President Bush’s decision to send more forces into combat and voicing support for the troops.

House members initially said members would get a chance to vote on a Republican alternative, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer later said he might not allow it because he wanted to keep the debate simple.

“We want to ensure that when the House responds, it does so with clarity,” he said.

The leaders described the vote as the first step of many that will be taken by Democrats to try to force an end to the nearly four-year war that has killed more than 3,000 U.S. troops and turned public opinion strongly against the conflict.

At a closed-door meeting of Democrats, leaders reassured lawmakers that next week’s symbolic vote would not be the last word, participants said. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs a subcommittee that oversees defense funding, told members he plans to try limiting funding for the deployment of troops in an upcoming bill paying for the war.