June 26 (LPAC)--Two more Senate Republicans today endorsed Sen. Richard Lugar's (R-Ind.) call on the Senate Floor June 25 for a rapid change in Iraq policy, while, they say, there is still time for a consensus to be forged without the immediate pressure of 2008 elections. Lugar's speech has opened the floodgates of Republican opposition to the long-failed Cheney-Bush policy.

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, "I hail what he [Lugar] did. It shows the strength that each of us individually must bring to this debate." Warner said that he agrees with Lugar, that the September report of General Petraeus is too long to wait to revise U.S. war policy. Warner told {CQ Today} that Lugar's call for a change in course was drawing "on many of the principles many Senators have expressed."

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), also told {CQ} that it is important to find out if the Administration is listening to different views on Iraq. "If they're not," said Voinovich, "I think that many of us are going to look at legislation that will limit the number of troops," he said. Voinovich intends to submit a letter to the Administration detailing an exit plan that includes engagement with the Arab League and the United Nations.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), called the Lugar's open split with the President, "a big thing." Lugar chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee until 2007. But, said Sessions, Lugar "breaks [from the President] with thoughtfulness." There is a growing feeling among Senators that the U.S. presence in Iraq needs review, Sessions said, and that he agrees troop levels should be reduced "as soon as it is realistic to do it."