FORT BRAGG, N.C. — President Bush, standing alongside 17,000 paratroopers, urged Congress yesterday to reach a consensus and pass a war funding bill that does not “tie the hands” of American commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While lawmakers on Capitol Hill faced votes on funding the troops, Mr. Bush welcomed home soldiers who have returned in recent months from the two combat zones.

“We should be able to agree that our troops deserve America’s full support,” Mr. Bush said at an outdoor ceremony on a massive field lined with members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. “And that means that the United States Congress needs to pass a responsible war funding bill that does not tie the hands of our commanders and gives our troops everything they need to complete and accomplish the mission.”

Mr. Bush’s Republican allies in the Senate voted yesterday on both the war funding request and tens of billions of dollars that Democrats want for veterans education and an assortment of domestic programs.

A Wednesday night agreement gave Republicans a clear path to kill numerous domestic programs and pass a “clean” war funding bill as demanded by the president. But doing so will take difficult votes on whether to extend unemployment benefits and expand veterans’ education benefits.

In his speech to troops, Mr. Bush defended his war policy and said that when it comes to deciding troop levels in Iraq, his message to commanders remains: “You will have all the troops, you will have all the resources you need to win.”

Mr. Bush’s visit to Fort Bragg coincided with what is known as “All-American Week” at the base. The 82nd’s traditional homecoming was canceled last year because nearly the entire division was fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year was tough on the 82nd Airborne, which suffered 87 fatalities — more than in any other year since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

The division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team is expected to return from Iraq in July, three months earlier than expected. But the 3rd Brigade Combat Team is being sent back to Iraq later this year.

Mr. Bush said Iraq will be a success when it can govern itself, support itself economically, and protect its own citizens.

“The capability of the Iraqi security forces is improving. They are winning battles,” he said.

He said the Iraqis are shouldering more of the cost of rebuilding, demanding better lives for their families, rejecting violence and passing legislation to pave the way for a stable future. “While there is a distance to travel, they have come a long way,” Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush also was touring the 82nd Airborne Division barracks where a paratrooper’s father shot video of substandard conditions, including sewage standing in a bathroom. A division spokesman, Major Tom Earnhardt, said Wednesday that conditions at the barracks have “vastly improved” since the video was taken and posted online.