WASHINGTON — For Hawai'i lawmakers, the war in Iraq and bills to fund the federal government through next year will produce a busy fall as Congress resumes its session tomorrow.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said heading his list of priorities for the fall is his bill to force President Bush to develop a war strategy that removes U.S. troops from Baghdad and focuses instead on countering al-Qaida in Iraq and other terrorist groups.

"We need to move the bill to the floor as quickly as possible and challenge the Senate ... to do the same," he said.

Abercrombie also said he would push to bring a war profiteering bill to the floor as quickly as possible to deal with problems such as the recent case in which the Defense Department was being charged millions of dollars for shipping parts to Iraq.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, will spend much of his time focused on the defense spending bill and Bush's anticipated request for an additional $50 billion in war spending, said Mike Yuen, Inouye's spokesman.

Also driving the war debate is the scheduled testimony of Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who will report Sept. 10 on the effect of the troop escalation and whether Iraq's government has met mandated benchmarks.

The Government Accountability Office also will release its report on benchmarks tomorrow.

The Senate also must complete working on spending bills or resort to a temporary catchall omnibus spending bill to keep the government functioning at present levels.

Freshman Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, has a different focus for the fall session, targeting the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law and a bill she introduced in August.

The Hirono bill is aimed at improving state-funded preschool programs. The bill provides $1 billion annually for five years.

Hirono also said she would be tracking spending bills to ensure money slated for Hawai'i, such as the $2.5 million to clean up a former Air Force landfill at Bellows Beach, stays in them.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.