GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNN) -- Sen. Chris Dodd, the latest entrant into the 2008 Democratic field, used the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend to speak out against President Bush's decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq.

"It is time now that we have done enough," the Connecticut senator said Sunday, his remarks receiving a standing ovation from a packed Springfield Baptist Church. "We have provided an opportunity for these people: It's time enough to come back."

Referring to the White House plan to dispatch 21,500 more U.S. troops, Dodd urged his Senate and House colleagues to pass a binding resolution "that would say this is the wrong decision to make, this is the wrong place for these young men and women to be."

Dodd used his time at the pulpit to introduce himself to the largely African-American audience, speaking at length about his family, his work on behalf of minorities and what he called his life-long commitment to equality.

"As a white man in the U.S. Senate, I understand the lessons that need to be learned," he said, promising to return to the Palmetto State "many times over the next year."