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U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said Tuesday he will offer an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization that would require enactment of the Iraq Study Group recommendations.

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is co-sponsor of the legislation, along with five centrist Republicans and five centrist Democrats.

“That road map for Iraq is intended to get us to a point where we can get our troops out of Iraq,” Salazar, D-Colo., said.

The Iraq Study Group set a goal of returning troops to the U.S. by spring of next year but did not make it mandatory. Its recommendations also included shifting the work of U.S. forces from combat to training; tying U.S. involvement to the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks; and developing a diplomatic effort in the region.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., meanwhile, reiterated his support for President Bush’s war plan.

“The new plan – the counter-insurgency strategy – has only been fully in effect for three weeks,” Allard said, referring to the plan of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq. “We must give this plan a chance to work before prematurely withdrawing our troops without any regard for the consequences for that decision.”

Allard, however, said that he was “troubled and disappointed in the lack of political progress in Iraq. The Iraqi government has not done what is needed to provide the Iraqi people with a secure future.”

Many Democrats, and some Republicans, are saying that more forceful steps are needed to change Bush’s war policies.

Liberal blogs, including Daily Kos, criticized Salazar’s plan as one that won’t accomplish anything. One blogger said Salazar had “betrayed his party and his country.”

Salazar said his amendment could pull support from both Republicans and Democrats, something the more partisan measures can’t.

“We need to get legislation across the finish line that changes our course in Iraq,” he said.