US Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a plan for a war funding bill that won't include a timeline for withdrawing US troops from Iraq, but will feature benchmarks with consequences.

The plan, presented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to House Democrats, also raises the federal minimum wage to US$7.25 per hour from US$5.15 per hour, and funds other domestic spending programs, which were still being negotiated.

White House spokesman Tony Snow declined to comment on items that might be in the proposed bill.

"I don't want to say yes or no to any of these things. I'm just going to say, 'No comment,' " Snow said.

A senior administration official added, "It is premature to say that the White House has agreed to any provisions of the Iraq funding bill."

The legislation would provide more than US$90 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30, the end of the fiscal year 2007.

Democrats said the benchmarks to be inked in the new bill will be tied to Iraq reconstruction aid and will require US President George W. Bush to present to Congress numerous reports before August.

However, they said they won't give up on a deadline for pulling troops out of Iraq, hoping to write language into defense appropriations and defense authorization bills over the summer.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said similar legislation being written there will fund the war through September.
 
Bush vetoed the previous war funding bill last month that included a timetable for withdrawing troops.

On last Friday, White House officials and lawmakers left negotiations saying they were "disappointed" that they couldn't agree on a compromise.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon iss considering maintaining a core group of forces in war-battered Iraq, possibly for decades, despite increasing pressure from the Congress and the public to pull out, NPR radio said on Tuesday.

A number of US military bases could be maintained in Iraq with a total of 30,000 to 40,000 troops for a long period of time -- maybe a few decades, the radio said.

The bases will be located at various strategic locations and will serve as air landing strips, for instance, it said, adding that the bases will be sealed and the US forces wouldn't be on patrols as they are now.

Some US military experts said maintaining a troop presence in Iraq would allow the military to continue training Iraqi forces.

It would also help discourage other countries, like Iran and Turkey, from entering Iraq, they added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)