Senator John Warner was among seven Republicans to buck the party line and support Democrat Senator Jim Webb's proposal to give troops longer breaks between their deployments, but the proposal still fell short Wednesday.

Webb's attempt to force the Bush administration to give troops longer breaks from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

Republican leaders used Senate rules to set a 60-vote requirement to end debate and bring the issue to a final vote.

Webb's son is a Marine and had been in Iraq earlier this year. His proposal would have required the administration to give active duty troops returning from the war zone "dwell time" at home equal to the time they were deployed.

The plan would have given reservists and National Guardsmen breaks between deployments at least three times as long as their time away from home.