Protesters are staging sit-ins at congressional offices in Wisconsin and Minnesota as part of a nationwide effort to pressure lawmakers to vote against funding for the war in Iraq.

In Wisconsin, organizers have been arrested for refusing to leave the office of Congressman David Obey, a Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. Minnesota protesters have avoided arrests. But their persistence led to a two-hour meeting with Republican Representative John Kline.

Four members of the Wisconsin group were arrested Monday at Obey's office in Wausau, following the arrest of three the previous week, for refusing to leave when the office closed for the day.

The protesters want commitments that lawmakers will vote against the nearly $100 billion that President Bush is seeking for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obey and other Democratic leaders announced today they'll add language to that request requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of next year.