U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday criticized Democrats in Congress for passing emergency war spending bills along with timetables for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

"In both the House and Senate, Democratic majorities have passed bills that would impose restrictions on our military commanders, set an arbitrary date for withdrawal from Iraq, and fund domestic spending that has nothing to do with the war," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

He renewed his pledge to veto the legislation with a pullout deadline.

"The Democrats who passed these bills know that I will veto either version if it reaches my desk, and they know my veto will be sustained," he said.

The president said he recognized that Democrats were trying to show their opposition to the war in Iraq, and that they saw the emergency war spending bill as a chance to make that statement.

"Yet for our men and women in uniform, this emergency war spending bill is not a political statement, it is a source of critical funding that has a direct impact on their daily lives," he said.

Bush warned that if Congress did not fund U.S. troops on the front lines, the military would be forced to make cuts in other areas to cover the shortfall.

"If the Democrats continue to insist on making a political statement, they should send me their bill as soon as possible. I will veto it, and then Congress can go to work on a good bill that gives our troops the funds they need, without strings and without further delay," he said.

Both the Senate and the House have passed bills that would provide money for this year's U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and set a timetable for the Bush administration to pull combat troops out of Iraq.

The bill approved by the Senate requires Bush to start withdrawal within 120 days after it becomes law, and aims to pull out all combat forces by March 31, 2008. The House measure asks the president to bring most combat troops home by Aug. 31 next year.