Nancy Boyda talks with Dwight Hilpman, Lawrence, inside Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt., where she talked to a group Saturday about her vote in support of more funding for the Iraq war and other issues. About a dozen anti-war protesters attended.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Topeka, faced opposition as she walked up the steps of the Lawrence Public Library on Saturday.

About a dozen anti-war protesters held signs intended to insult her congressional work, but Boyda looked each one of them in the eye and shook their hands.

Then she bent down to greet Bruiser, a protester’s dog, who was wearing a sign that said “Puppy for Peace,” which resulted in even more jeers from protesters.

Boyda welcomed the controversy and invited the group to join her inside.

“I really do appreciate the protesters being here,” she told a crowd of local Democrats in a packed room inside the library, 707 Vt. “Democracy is a contact sport. This is a good thing.”

The protesters said Boyda acted like a Republican on May 24 when she voted in support of injecting billions of dollars into the Iraq war.

Boyda said it’s not the first time she’s received grief over the vote and explained that people often misunderstand her vote wasn’t to support the war but to support the troops.

“I will fund the troops, and I have said all along that I will,” she said.

Boyda told the crowd she understood that many people were frustrated with the war.

“I am going to do what I can to bring those troops home as soon as possible,” Boyda said. “It’s the Republican side of the aisle that’s holding things up.”

She said Democrats lack the two-thirds majority in the U.S. House and Senate needed to override vetoes. In May, President Bush vetoed a bill that imposed deadlines to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Boyda indicated that those against the war might not be placing pressure for a troop withdrawal in the right places.

“Where the heck is the pressure on the Republicans? Why are you not showing up and questioning our two (Republican) senators and our two representatives?” she said. “I’m asking you to put the pressure on them, as well as me.”

Boyda said she’ll consider cutting war funding in September, when military leaders are scheduled to report to Congress on the outcome of the troop surge.

“For the first time … I have to consider cutting funding,” she said. “This is not a good decision, but staying the course is a worse one.”

But her answers weren’t well-received by all.

“Many of the guys who are out here serving in uniform still deserve the respect from us, no matter how we feel about the war,” Boyda said.

“Respect them and bring them home to their families,” Cammy Challender, a protester, shouted in response.