FORT BRAGG - President Bush came to one of the nation's most patriotic events -- the annual homecoming of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division -- to press his Iraq strategy and urge Congress to pass a war funding bill that would give combat troops "America's full support."

Speaking on Thursday at the formal culmination of All American Week, the division's troop review, Bush railed against the idea of pulling troops out of Iraq before that country is politically and economically stable. He laid out his measures for success there and detailed what he sees as progress toward each.

"There will be tough fighting ahead," he said. "But the progress is undeniable."

His remarks were apparently aimed at Democrats, who are increasingly turning their attention from their presidential primary to the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. McCain's position on Iraq is similar to Bush's, while Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have plans for withdrawing troops quickly.

Hours after Bush spoke, the U.S. Senate approved a version of the war-funding bill that included the $165 billion that he sought for the troops, along with billions in additional spending for things he didn't want. He has vowed to veto the bill if it contains such additions.

As he spoke at Bragg, 16,000 paratroopers stood in formation in a broad field in front of him, with more than 100 unit flags fluttering. An additional 1,000 soldiers and thousands more relatives and veterans listened in the audience.

It was the fourth time Bush has come to the friendly refuge of Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne and Special Forces and the Army's largest base by population, since he was elected president.

The soldiers and their families know intimately the human costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 82nd has deployed on more missions than any other Army division. So many of its paratroopers have been killed -- 165 -- that the monument honoring them had to be expanded. After the troop review, Bush joined a ceremony dedicating that expansion. Also present were members of about 150 families of the slain.

Attending All American Week, with its ceremonies, contests and social events, is part of what it means to be an 82nd paratrooper, but so many soldiers from the division were at war last year that it was canceled. Bush noted that it was the first time the 82nd has had five brigades home since 2006 and that most of the paratroopers had recently returned from extended 15-month combat tours.

"And on behalf of a grateful nation, welcome home," he said.

Among the division's many deployments was its 2nd Brigade Combat Team's recently completed tour in Iraq. It had been the first unit sent there as part of Bush's troop buildup early last year.

The Pentagon announced this week that the 3rd Brigade would return to Iraq later this year. The division has four such infantry brigades, as well as other units, such as its aviation brigade, that play specialized roles. The 1st Brigade is in Iraq, but the Pentagon recently announced that it would come home in July, three months earlier than planned.

Bush tours barracks

After the review ceremony, Bush also visited older barracks on the base that were the subject of a controversy this spring. The father of a paratrooper recently returned from Iraq posted a video on YouTube highlighting problems including peeling paint and broken plumbing. In one scene, a soldier climbs onto a sink with a toilet plunger to do battle with wastewater several inches deep in a bathroom.

Bragg officials said that the unit in the video had come home a few weeks early while renovations were under way.

Bush, wearing a concerned expression, visited a bedroom and a bathroom in one of the buildings, then was taken to new housing that is replacing the worn Korean War-era buildings.

Across the nation his overall job approval rating is at an all-time low of 28 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll. His rating with the crowd Thursday, though, was much higher if the repeated rounds of applause and "hooahs" offered a gauge. He was interrupted about two dozen times, including sharp applause after saying, "The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision at the time -- and it remains the right decision today."

Ed Wilson, who fought in Vietnam with the 82nd, said he agreed with Bush. "I say we should pull out slow and not just drop it," he said.

The upbeat nature of the event led those who disagreed with Bush to be circumspect. George Hinds, a veteran who fought in the Persian Gulf War with the division, had driven from Hinesville, Ga., to attend the festivities.

It was hard even for ex-soldiers to criticize the commander in chief, Hinds said. "He's at the strategic level, and most of us are at the operational level, so we don't question what it is we are asked to do," Hinds said.

Politics aside, he said, the president's visit was a huge morale boost for troops who deserve one.

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