"We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq," Bush said at a White House news conference.

He spoke shortly before Turkey's parliament approved a possible cross-border offensive.

The president also urged the Democratic-controlled Congress not to infuriate Turkey, a key ally in the war on Iraq, by approving a resolution labeling as genocide the World War I-era killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

With all the pressing responsibilities facing the nation, "One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire," he said.

Bush seemed less concerned, however, about offending China. He defended his decision to attend a ceremony on Capitol Hill later Wednesday honoring the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibet's Buddhists. The ceremony angered Chinese leaders.

"One, I admire the Dalai Lama a lot; two, I support religious freedom, he supports religious freedom," Bush said.

On talk in Turkey about mounting a military strike inside Iraq, Bush said, "Actually they have troops already stationed in Iraq and they've had troops stationed there for quite a while."

"We don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in."

Bush said he talked about Turkey with Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, on Wednesday. He also noted that Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq's vice presidents, was in Istanbul expressing that Iraq shares Turkey's concerns about terrorist activities, but that there's a better way to deal with the issue than having turkey send additional troops into the country.

"What I'm telling you is that there's a lot of dialogue going on and that's positive," he said.

Bush used the news conference — his first since Sept. 20 — to prod the Democratic-controlled Congress to approve spending, education and health bills. It came just a day before the House will try to override his veto of a bill expanding a popular children's health program.

"It's unlikely that veto override will succeed," Bush said noting that Democratic leaders knew that "when they sent me the bill."

"Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by" since Democrats gained control in January of both the House and the Senate, he added.

At a White House news conference, the president also said that Congress needs to act on mortgage relief for homeowners hit by the housing crisis, trade deals that would strengthen allies, legislation expanding U.S. markets and aid to military veterans.

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent