WASHINGTON -- The surest way to rebuild Iraq is to put money in people's pockets, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said Monday as he promoted the idea of apportioning the country's oil revenues among Iraqi citizens.

An Iraqi "oil trust" could be modeled after the fund that distributes royalties from North Slope oil production to citizens of Alaska, he said.

The prospect of oil paydays would give Iraqis incentive to keep pipelines open and undamaged, reject the insurgency and help the economy grow, Ensign said.

It also could demonstrate the United States is not in Iraq for its oil, as many critics have charged, he said.

"Our generals say there is not a military solution that can work in Iraq, it needs a political solution, and this is a big political solution," Ensign said.

The idea is not new. It has circulated in think tanks and in Congress and among Bush administration officials since before the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003.

But Ensign said the administration has been reluctant.

During private meetings he urged Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top officials to pursue the Iraqi oil trust but he saw few results.

"They think it is a good idea but they don't think they can force the Iraqis to do this," Ensign said.

A State Department spokesman said Monday the Bush administration's position is that oil revenue sharing "is a decision for the Iraqis to make."

Ensign said he quietly promoted the concept through his membership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, allying with Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

On Monday, the senators advocated the oil trust in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal.

"Oil revenues would accrue to the national government and a significant percentage would be divided equally among ordinary Iraqis, giving every citizen a stake in the nation's recovery and political reconciliation," the senators wrote.

"We have gone public to put more momentum behind it now that the administration seems willing to do some changes" in Iraq, Ensign said. "Maybe it is time they can be more forceful with the Iraqi government."

Although it is not a matter that Congress can put into practice through legislation, Ensign said he may seek support for a formal resolution that would put the U.S. Senate on record on the oil trust.

Al-Sabah, the newspaper of Iraq's government, reported earlier this month the Iraqi parliament is discussing a draft bill to set aside 30 percent of oil sales income to distribute among citizens, according to Mohammed Fadhil, an Iraqi blogger.

In an interview, Ensign suggested about 40-50 percent of the oil funds could be redistributed to the Iraqi people, perhaps as cash or as ownership shares that could be traded or used as collateral to get a loan or start a business.

"It would help the whole economy," Ensign said.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects Iraq will earn about $32 billion from oil exports this year, analyst Erik Kreil said.

Iraq's total population is 26.8 million, according to a July estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency.

If half the oil revenue were shared, each Iraqi could receive $580, with promises of more as the economy improves and oil production picks up. The average annual Iraqis' income in 2004 was $800, according to the Institute for Policy Studies.

Bruce Everett, a former executive in the Middle East for ExxonMobil, said revenue sharing with the citizenry through an oil trust "is the right idea," but he questioned what it would take to work in Iraq.