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The article reports that U.S. Republican state Senator John Campbell won enough votes to put himself in solid first place in the special election for California's open 48th District seat. Campbell, as his party's top candidate in the race for the seat vacated by former Republican Representative Christopher Cox, will advance to the runoff as the clear favorite for the safely Republican Orange County seat. Former state Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer, Campbell's nearest Republican rival, placed second with just under 17 percent of the vote, and will not make the runoff.

The article reports that given the Volunteer State's Republican leanings over the past decade, Charles Schumer and the Democrats have their work cut out for them to put that seat in their column. There was early speculation that Senator Jon Kyl would retire at the end of his second term. But one Arizona Republican source said the two-term senator— who first came to Capitol Hill in 1986 as a House member— is now" presumed" to run again. Montana was once the most Democratic-leaning of the Rocky Mountain states, but— at least until this month's Democratic successes— had trended Republican over the past decade.

Focuses on the legislations which were left unsolved in the 107th U.S. Congress. Bill for extension of unemployment insurance benefits proposed by House Democrats; Possibility of extension in a debate over tax deductions; Appropriations bill pending for 2003.

Reports the proposal of the Republicans on redistricting Democratic-held districts in the United States. Failure to ratify the action of US Senate in combining the Democratic-held districts; Factors affecting the redistricting of Democrats districts; Advantages and disadvantages of redistricting proposal.

This article reports that the U.S. House will take up a USA PATRIOT Act extension and the appropriations bill of the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday, with action on immigration legislation set for Thursday. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who is acting majority leader, said that he also wants a vote on pension legislation this week. Blunt said completion of a spending reconciliation package, while desirable, is not essential before the end of the year. Blunt left open the possibility that defense authorization legislation and a tax cut bill under reconciliation could be held over until next year. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, at his news briefing today, said the Senate would take up the Labor-HHS appropriations bill after votes of the House. He repeated his commitment to capital gains and dividends relief in a tax reconciliation bill.

This article reports that the U.S. Senate joins the U.S. House for busy year-end push. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the U.S. Senate is currently not expected to work. But how long the U.S. Congress will stay in session is anyone's guess at this point--and the House GOP and Democratic leaders have warned their members that the House could be in as late as December 23, 2005 if necessary to finish its business. The Defense spending bill likely will see a handful of other bills attached to it, including additional funding for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and avian flu. The Defense spending bill also is the vehicle Republicans intend to use for an across-the-board cut in discretionary spending as part of the plan laid out earlier this year to offset hurricane-related costs.

The article focuses on White House adviser Karl Rove who said that U.S. President George W. Bush would pursue an economic agenda that includes modernizing Social Security, fiscal restraint and legal overhaul, in addition to enacting energy and job training bills. Rove made another pitch for adding personal retirement accounts to Social Security while he acknowledged the political obstacles are significant. Rove said Bush's proposed FY06 budget would take a hard line against increases in non-defense discretionary spending in order to cut the budget deficit in half.

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Thomas Reynolds of New York spoke guardedly about his committee's multi-million dollar "October strategy" on ad spending, while he voiced confidence House Republicans would remain in the majority after Election Day. Reynolds said NRCC currently has independent expenditure ads running in 17 districts. To illustrate how Republicans could add more seats to their majority, Reynolds cited committee efforts to boost the U.S. political party Grand Old Party challengers in districts held by Democratic Representatives.

Four-term Grand Old Party, the U.S. Political party Representative Anne Northup has turned back tough opponents every time she has run in Kentucky's Democratic-leaning. Northup, a perennial Democratic target, defeated the party's nominee Jack Conway by a 52-48 percent margin in 2002, in part because of his ties to former Democratic Governor. Rather than focus on national GOP issues, Northup has tended to emphasize votes and work that show her independence from the Republican-controlled Congress and her ability to win federal funding for her Louisville district.

Running for Congress in the President's home state, Republican Louie Gohmert is betting that one week in New York is worth the time away from the campaign trail. "It's hard to show support for your President and have input if you stay away," Gohmert said on Monday at a candidate "meet and greet" forum. He added, "This is where you develop relationships." Gohmert, a former state appeals judge, is challenging Democratic Republican Max Sandlin for his East Texas 1st District seat. But as important as making contacts, the trip to the Republican National Convention has given Gohmert a chance to bolster his credentials as a conservative and tie himself to U.S. President George W. Bush, who won his district in 2000 with 67 percent.

No sooner did South Carolina Republicans vote to send former Governor David Beasley and Representative Jim DeMint to a June 22, 2004 GOP runoff, than international trade emerged as a defining issue between the two. Beasley, who was backed by textile giant Roger Milliken, has blamed free trade agreements, and DeMint's support for them as the reason for the declining textile industry. In the six-way race for the GOP nod to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, Beasley won 36.6 percent of the vote, and will be joined in the runoff by DeMint, who captured 26.4 percent.

This article focuses on the U.S. Senate gains due to retirements of Democratic party senators Bob Graham of Florida and John Edwards of North Carolina. The article describes that after the candidate filing closes at noon of May 7, 2004 in Florida and North Carolina, the field will be set for two heavily contested Senate races, Republican primaries in three open House seats and at least five credible challenges to sitting House incumbents. Leading the Democratic field are former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor, Representative Peter Deutsch and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.

On February 26, 2004 the U.S. Senate was expected to vote to extend federal highway and transit spending programs an additional two months, and the U.S. House was poised to follow. Emerging from the meeting House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said those programs were being held up in a dispute in the Senate. According to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, DeLay wants to attach to the transportation bill a provision extending the life of the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., which House Speaker Dennis Hastert has rejected. Members of the House and Senate are counting on the two-month extension to provide enough time to move a full six-year transportation reauthorization bill through the House as well as a House-Senate conference.

U.S. legislator Tom Davis today said Republicans approach Election Day in a strong position, but he cautioned the party must confront nervousness in its own ranks about budget deficits, an energized Democratic base and a historical voter preference for divided government. Davis, a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, briefed reporters on the objectives of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which is backing moderate candidates. He said Republicans, beginning with the FY05 budget resolution, must find a way to ease fiscal conservatives' anxiety over budget deficits and put the government on a path to balanced budgets.

Congressional party committees spent more than they collected in January, according to monthly FEC reports that also show that U.S. House Republicans raised three times more money than their Democratic counterparts. The National Republican Congressional Committee raised nearly $4.6 million in January, including $4.4 million from individuals and $195,000 from PACs and other federal committees. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised just under $1.4 million for the month.

According to party strategists who said GOP Reprsentative John Hostettler and Democratic Representative Baron Hill are the incumbents to watch in the Hoosier state and Southern Indiana will be a key battleground in the fight for the House majority in the U.S. Congress. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Thomas Reynolds of New York said that Hostettler would be safer with more money, but that Hostettler has a formula for winning. In southeastern Indiana's 9th District, Hill has a rematch against trucking company owner Mike Sodrel, who held Hill to 51 percent in 2002.

U.S. House and Senate Republicans on a policy retreat here were hesitant to comment on the news that U.S. President George W. Bush's budget for the financial year 2004 will project the 10-year cost of the Medicare prescription drug bill at nearly $540 billion, rather than the $400 billion they anticipated. Majority leader Bill Frist said that the U.S. Congress would continue to rely on the community based organization estimates for Medicare, and added that any increase in the projected cost would in no way affect efforts to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Leaders of the U.S. House told a group of lobbyists Wednesday that they envision moving a corporate tax bill that includes repeal of the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income break to the House floor possibly in March, according to sources knowledgeable about the meeting. The meeting, led by Majority Whip Blunt, was a wider-ranging discussion on the 2004 agenda in which the FSC-ETI issue came up, sources said.

In a Democratic" pre-buttal" of U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today accused Republicans of reckless governance and misplaced national priorities. Daschle and Pelosi delivered their remarks at the National Press Club in an attempt to place Democratic priorities in front of the public before Bush's address Tuesday. Pelosi challenged Bush to lay out unifying national objectives and condemned Bush's handling of foreign affairs, singling out his Iraq policy.

Despite the uncertainty over how the courts will rule on Texas redistricting, U.S. Republican candidates are plunging ahead with their campaigns in the hope they will find themselves in one of several new GOP-friendly districts. In East Texas, Democratic Representative Max Sandlin already faces GOP opposition from ophthalmologist Lyle Thorstenson, who has filed to challenge Sandlin under the current 1st District lines. State Representative Wayne Christian and former state district appeals Judge Louie Gohmert, both Republicans, have also said they want to run for the seat.

U.S. President George W. Bush administration Thursday will launch a coordinated public relations effort designed to pressure the Congress to finish and pass the Medicare prescription drug bill. The effort will be led by President Bush, who will urge the Congress to send him the bill during an event in Orlando with Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The events including the senior administration officials are being sponsored by either the AARP or the Coalition for Medicare Choices. AARP officials in Washington, however, say the group is not an official sponsor. House Speaker Dennis Hastert's "action team" on Medicare prescription drugs has developed a "storyline" about the discount drug card, one of the areas in which the Medicare conference committee has come to an agreement.

The article reports on the prospects of sending back the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization to a U.S. Congress House-Senate conference committee tonight, potentially paving the way for Republicans to remove language from the bill that allows privatization of some air traffic control workers. While in theory both Democratic and Republican conferees want to reopen the legislation to discuss privatization, congressional and industry sources said Republicans plan to strip the privatization language from the bill in order to get enough support to pass it. The privatization provision has emerged as the most contentious aspect of the bill, with Democrats pushing to reinsert language expressly forbidding privatization.

Representative Zach Wamp said today that he planned to go forward with his amendment to convert half the $18.65 billion in proposed Iraq reconstruction funds into a loan at Thursday's U.S. House Appropriations Committee markup of its $86.7 billion Fiscal Year 2004 supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. The move comes despite heavy lobbying by the administration, including a call today from L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, and a meeting this afternoon at the White House. Wamp said that he agreed in his conversation with Bremer to changes that would allow the president discretion to negotiate the terms of the loan, as opposed to Congress.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader William Frist has declared September 2003 to be "appropriations month," and he expects the Senate schedule to be dominated by debate on several FY04 spending bills. One candidate for early action may be the often-controversial Labor-HHS appropriations bill. In what is expected to be one of the most contentious battles on the bill, Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, plans to offer an amendment to prevent the Labor Department from receiving funds to implement a portion of their new overtime flexibility rules. On other issues, this week's massive power blackouts are expected to consume time on Capitol Hill. These blackouts have triggered calls for stepped-up efforts on an energy legislation conference and will likely lead to new rounds of congressional probes.

Fifteen months out from Election Day 2004, Indiana Democrats say they have marked GOP Representative John Hostettler for defeat and are developing a unified campaign against him. The five-term Hostettler has faced biennial assaults in Indiana's historically competitive "Bloody Eighth," most recently, a 51-46 percent victory last year in a seat altered by a Democratic redistricting plan. For 2004, Boston Celtics scout Jon Jennings and trucking company owner Kevin Derr are vying for the right to take on Hostettler. Hostettler, who does not accept PAC money, raised just $1,100 as of June 30 and had a mere $5,000 on hand. Last month, Hostettler filed a statement of candidacy with the FEC. In an interview just prior to the August recess, Hostettler explained he does not normally raise money until the summer, and hopes to match the nearly $600,000 he collected last cycle.

For congressional representative John Sullivan of Oklahoma, taking care of his Tulsa-based district requires watching off-year administrative contests in Kentucky and California. Sullivan, who represents oil and gas interests, narrowly missed a chance in January to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but he could get a second chance this fall if either congressional representative Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky, or congressional republican Darrell Issa of California, wins his campaign to become governor and gives up his seat on the coveted panel.

Despite some uneasiness from conservative and moderate Republicans, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said that Republican leaders plan to propose their 82 billion dollar child tax credit package in the House on June 12, 2003. Republican leaders formally presented House Republican Conference with the proposal crafted by Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas that would expand the child tax credit to lower-and upper-income brackets to as much as 1,000 dollar through 2010.

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman Thomas Reynolds of New York said his Democratic counterparts are encountering challenges in raising money and finding enough districts to capture the House majority in 2004. In a briefing today for reporters, Reynolds ripped up the paperwork for the 2002 campaign loan of NRCC, announcing the committee had fully paid off a 6 million dollar debt. The committee raised 14 million dollars during the president's fundraising dinner on May 21, 2003. Reynolds said House Democrats are recycling old campaign themes and said the 2002 redistricting cycle showed that the field of competitive House races is unlikely to expand beyond four-dozen seats. Noting the House's passage of a tax deduction bill on May 23, 2003, Reynolds said the economy would likely determine the political fate of Republicans.

Texas House speaker Tom Craddick urged the state Department of Public Safety to track down and arrest 53 Democratic legislators who fled Austin in a successful attempt to close the scheduled vote on congressional redistricting. The Texas constitution prohibits the legislature from redistricting.

The article focuses on the prospects of McCain-Feingold campaign finance law in lieu of likely injunction order to be issued by the U.S. high court. After district court panel ruling appeared to void pieces of the law banning soft money accounts while strengthening parts related to advertising that targets specific candidates, lawyers for the sponsors of the bill are considering asking for an injunction. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, who challenged the law in court, issued a statement that he is looking forward to making the case against the law at the Supreme Court.

The U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made the rounds in Austin on April 24, 2003 to urge Texas Governer, Rick Perry, and somewhat reluctant Texas GOP lawmakers to approve a congressional redistricting map that would send more Republicans to Capitol Hill. In a series of meetings with legislators and at a news conference, DeLay said Texas legislators have an obligation to set aside a court-drawn map of the state's 32 congressional seats and produce its own plan. Republicans control both chambers of the Texas Legislature, but approving a new congressional plan will be difficult because Senate Republicans are two votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to consider a bill on the floor.

U.S. Republican moderates debating over the size of tax cuts said that the 2004 election cycle will mark the expansion of their policy-oriented Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) into a player at the ballot box. The group of moderate Republicans, established in 1998 to promote moderate policy, stepped up its fundraising and political activity last cycle when conservatives began targeting them for defeat. Doug Ose of California, Mark Foley of Florida, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and George Nethercutt of Washington are RMSP members who are also considering Senate bids. The group has already identified potential House candidates in Florida and California. The group is also considering the retirement of senator Peter Fitzgerald.

he U.S. House has approved a motion to instruct conferees on the fiscal year 2003 war supplemental appropriations bill to extend unemployment benefits for laid-off aviation workers for an additional 26 weeks at a cost of up to 275 million dollars. The motion instructs conferees to accept language added to the Senate bill by Senator Patty Murray. Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain and Commerce Aviation Subcomittee Chairman Trent Lott are concerned that an amendment aimed at curbing a German company's inroads against United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. would prevent the Department of Defence from contracting with foreign-owned airlines during emergencies. Deutsche Post AG which operates DHL Worldwide Express Inc. is trying to acquire the delivery business of Seattle-based Airborne Inc. Current language in the Senate version of the supplemental requires that the Pentagon in Virginia should contract with air cargo companies that are "effectively controlled" by U.S. citizens.

Focuses on developments with regard to the passage of health care bills in the U.S. Congress, as of February 14, 2003. Reaction of legislators on the slow movement of bills in the House and the Senate; Provisions of Greenwood's medical malpractice reform bill with regard to physicians; Significance of association health plans for small businesses.

Reports on the opposition of U.S. Democrats to President George W. Bush's proposals for fiscal year 2004 budget. Issue raised over the decline in the allocation of funds for environment and natural resources programs; Criticism of House Budget ranking member over further tax cuts; Statement released by House Ways and Means ranking member in criticism of the budget; Support of president's plan by House Budget chairman.

Reports on efforts of the U.S. congressional Democrats to focus on the national debate over economic and security toward Democratic approaches before U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech. Criticism of Republican party's spending reductions in fiscal year 2003 by Democrats; Plans to scrutinize Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget proposal; Defensiveness of Republicans on spending reductions.

Presents news items on various events and activities related to the United States Congress as of January 10, 2003. Swearing-in ceremony conducted by Minority Leader Richard Gephardt for leadership replacement; Issues related to the proposal $ 674 package for tax reduction bill; Report on the second day of the 108th Congress session.

Reports on the recruitment of former aides of incoming majority leader Tom DeLay and outgoing Majority leader Dick Armey in the 108th U.S. Congress. Appointment of Mildred Webber by incoming majority whip Roy Blunt; Selection of Kathryn Lehman as Conference chief of staff by incoming Republican Conference chairwoman Deborah Pryce; Hiring of Amy Steinmann by Blunt for floor director.

Reports on various political developments in the United States as of December 13, 2002. Plans of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christie Whitman to leave the agency; Potential candidates to replace Whitman; Political experience of Representative elect Tom Cole.

Focuses on the efforts of Conservatives and Democrats for organizing and mobilizing volunteers for the U.S. House races for 2002. People being targeted while recruiting the volunteers; Effect of the mobilizations on the public; Electioneering efforts by Republican representative from Michigan Mike Rogers.

Reports that many organizations are beginning to launch television advertisement campaigns and making other efforts to affect the outcome of significant U.S. Senate and House midterm elections for the year 2002. Amount of money spent by the Alliance for Retired Americans, a Democratic Party supporting organization, to focus voters' attention on prescription drugs.

Presents news briefs related to the politics and government of the United States as of October 9, 2002. Focus on the split between Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt; Reaction of House democrat Martin Frost on the decision of Bush on the military action against Iraq; Activities of House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts.

Reports on developments in U.S. politics as of September 9, 2002. Debate among legislators on whether to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes in their respective districts or in Washington D.C.; Senator Olympia Snowe's attempt to get the Senate to reach a compromise on a Medicare transcription drug bill.

Reports on various legislative developments in the United States as of June 14, 2002. Maine's position in redistricting; Recognition gained by some legislators for their roles in the passage of the farm bill.

Focuses on the tentative agreement between legislators to settle the redistricting plan in New York. Elimination of congressional districts; Start of fights for re-elections between Democratic representative Louise Slaughter and Grand Old party representative Benjamin Gilman; Draft of the plan.

Focuses on legislative bills to be discussed in the U.S. Congress in the first week of June 2002. List of bills which are given priorities by U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey; Voting on repealing portions of the 10-year sunset on the tax cuts in the U.S. House; Description of supplemental appropriations bill and human cloning bill to be discussed in the U.S. Senate.