U.S. Lawmakers Closing Ranks : Congress: All Americans ‘should unite behind our troops,’ Sen. Boren says.

Only four days after Congress authorized President Bush to go to war in Iraq, the legislative resolution became a stark reality, and lawmakers closed ranks, as they had promised, to offer their support for the U.S. military and its actions.

“My prayers and thoughts are with the soldiers and their families, and my hopes are for a swift and successful conclusion to this war,” said House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), whose reaction was typical of those who had opposed the authorization of military force in the Persian Gulf.

Added Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and another who had voted against the resolution: “Now that war has begun, all Americans should unite behind our troops. . . . Congress must be prepared to vote to provide our troops anything they need to prevail.”

Under the resolution, the White House was required to notify only House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) as hostilities began. Foley was at a Brooks Brothers store buying shirts when he was notified that the President was trying to reach him and wanted to be called back on a secure line.

Administration officials made special efforts to assure that other key figures got advance word as well.

President Bush phoned Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell at 5:35 p.m. EST, about 40 minutes after F-15E fighter-bombers took off from the largest U.S. air base in central Saudi Arabia and more than an hour before the first television reports of air strikes in Baghdad. Members of the National Security Council staff briefed other groups of congressional leaders.

The Administration also complied with the resolution’s stipulation that the President certify that all diplomatic efforts had been exhausted.

It was only a matter of minutes after the air strikes before lawmakers began lining up to go on record in support of the action. A freshman congressman, Democrat Jim Bacchus of Florida, hit the Capitol Hill press gallery bulletin boards first with his statement in favor of the action.

Some on Capitol Hill urged that no holds be barred, with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as the chief target of U.S. warplanes. “Saddam Hussein is getting exactly what he asked for,” said California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach). “I hope that we find out where Saddam Hussein is early on in the conflict, and if we do, it will be a much shorter conflict.”

But others argued for giving Hussein yet another chance to back away from full-scale conflagration. Many have advocated a “strategic pause” between the air strikes and the moment that ground troops are sent toward Iraq and southern Kuwait--the crucial turning point at which casualties are sure to mount.

California Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) said such a tactic would “give an opportunity for them to reconsider the insanity which they have embarked upon.”

Times staff writers Robert A. Rosenblatt, Paul Houston and Robert W. Stewart contributed to this report.