Congressman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., shakes someone's hand Tuesday while Lawrence Chamber of Commerce member Phyllis Tiffany watches. Moran was in Lawrence to speak at the Lawrence Arts Center, where Moran was awarded the Spirit of Enterprise Award. The six-term congressman said he is concerned about the progress of the Iraqi government.

While in Lawrence on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., voiced concern about progress of the Iraqi government, assessed in a White House report to be delivered to Congress this week.

“It appears that that report is going to show that they are functioning poorly,” Moran said. “And it just may be that our U.S. military has done everything that it can do to try to give the Iraqis an opportunity, and it’s now up to the Iraqis, and they’re not pulling the load.”

But the six-term congressman from Hays said that overall war support from Congress will be determined in September when U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq, reports on the progress of President Bush’s troop-surge strategy.

“Should that report be at all pessimistic, I think you will see many members of Congress begin to look for a way to extricate ourselves from Iraq,” he said.

Moran said of Petraeus, who before his return to Iraq was commander at Fort Leavenworth, “I would expect him to be very forthright and straightforward in telling us what success or lack of success is occurring in Iraq.”

Moran, a Kansas University alumnus, represents 69 counties in western and central Kansas. His district does not include Douglas County.

He spoke to about 70 people at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H., as part of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s series featuring members of the state’s delegation.

He said he is working on the improvement and reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for education, which he voted against in 2001. He said more standardized testing takes away from quality teaching and learning time.

“We need to make sure (teachers) don’t lose that joy because it becomes a bureaucratic profession,” he said.

Moran also addressed immigration, saying that he was opposed to the reform bill that recently failed in the Senate. He added that any reform would have to address border security and American businesses’ ability to fill jobs.