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This article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush's bid to extend preferential tax treatment for capital gains and dividend income appeared to be gasping for air last month when Senator Olympia Snowe, forced the U.S. Senate to drop the measure from a broad tax-cut extension bill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will likely move by mid-week to go to conference on the tax reconciliation bill. With time winding down, much strategizing and negotiating is left to be done between House and Senate Republicans to determine how much of more than $100 billion in tax cuts in play, with only $60 billion now protected from filibuster in the Senate under budget reconciliation, can become law.

This article reports that action on budget and tax reconciliation agreements stands in the way of adjournment in the U.S. Congress, along with related side issues such as exploratory drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a proposed scaling back of funding for Medicare and Medicaid and hurricane relief. Also on tap are measures to tighten immigration laws and provide funding to prepare for a potential outbreak of avian flu, and action on the massive defense authorization bill and the equally large Defense appropriations measure. Lawmakers and staff trying to figure out when they can escape might want to keep their bags packed and their schedules flexible. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, the acting majority leader, said last week that the House might wrap up by Thursday, but that business might keep members in town through the weekend.

The article reports that U.S. Senate Democrats are planning to fight a Republican bid to pass a temporary shield that would keep millions of Americans from paying the alternative minimum tax next year, throwing into limbo the future of a one-year fix the House intends to vote on today. Aides have indicated that Majority Leader Bill Frist will try to move the bill through the Senate, particularly since hope for a tax reconciliation conference that includes the AMT fix before the end of the year is fading fast. But Democratic aides said there will likely be an attempt to amend a stand-alone AMT bill in the Senate to ensure that its cost, $31.2 billion over five years, will not increase the deficit above the $70 billion already granted reconciliation protections by the FY06 budget resolution.

This article reports on various debates and initiatives which are scheduled for the U.S. Congressional hearing on November 14, 2005. Republican leaders, reportedly, will try again this week to sell a $50 billion-plus deficit reduction bill to some reluctant rank-and-file House members and will try to revive a plan to extend expiring tax cuts as part of the budget reconciliation process. The sweeping budget bill cuts across a wide swath of government programs, from government-backed pensions to farm subsidies, trimming the growth of Medicaid and raising revenues from sales of public lands to mining interests. The Senate has already passed its version, a $35 billion measure that impacts different areas of government programs, including Medicare. Even without reconciliation, the schedule this week would, supposedly, be packed with money-related matters, including as many as four more FY06 appropriations conference reports.

This article reports that Republican leaders of the U.S. House are proposing a $53.9 billion deficit reduction package that, as drafted, would hit child support enforcement, food stamps, Medicaid beneficiaries and student loans and would open Arctic and coastal areas to energy exploration. With the Senate's $35 billion version of the legislation already approved, the Senate Finance Committee will move ahead with $60 billion in tax cuts under budget reconciliation. By late last week, the leaders were heading into the debate short of a majority, as no Democrats are expected to support the package and numerous Republicans have so far withheld their votes. The Senate's $35 billion version is very different from the House's version. It would make a series of changes to Medicare policy that the House bill would not, and would leave food stamps untouched, while the House measure would trim $844 million over five years.

This article reports that prospects for moving a budget reconciliation package will be more clearly defined in the last of October 2005, as the U.S. Senate weighs a $39 billion five-year deficit reduction bill including contentious rollbacks of Medicare and Medicaid spending. At the same time, a U.S. House committee considers a companion $50 billion package that includes cuts to food stamp funds. While money matters top the congressional agenda, some attention is likely to be diverted by U.S. President George W. Bush's search for a new Supreme Court nominee and by developments in the CIA leak investigation.

The article reports that the U.S. House begins its budget reconciliation process this week while the U.S. Senate takes up its final Fiscal Year 06 appropriation bill, as Republican leaders try to begin closing out the most important fiscal issues before adjourning for the year. Also this week, the House Resources Committee plans to mark up budget reconciliation language that would allow states to opt out of a federal ban on offshore oil production and would authorize oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On the reconciliation front, Republicans want to extend tax breaks on capital gains and dividends, at a cost of $70 billion. The House's entitlement spending cut bill calls for finding $50 billion in savings over five years, to be formalized in a budget amendment on the floor as well as by the individual authorizing committees this week.

The article informs about the expected delay in the adjournment of the U.S. Congress and the issues of prime importance in the same. Five weeks remain before the U.S. Congress's latest adjournment target of November 18, 2005 but senior lawmakers and aides in both chambers have acknowledged that the date will easily slip into December 2005. Republican leaders say they are intent upon moving additional hurricane-related legislation quickly this month, including tax breaks and other incentives to draw business and residents back to the heavily damaged Gulf Coast.

The article reports about the budget reconciliation process for the U.S. to be released in October 2005. Multiple Senate committees are marking up their portions of an entitlement spending cut bill totaling at least $34.7 billion over five years. The savings will come from reductions in the rapid growth of mandatory programs such as Medicare, and from revenue-raisers such as radio spectrum sales to wireless telecommunications firms and increases in pension premiums paid by employers. The U.S. Senate Budget Committee plans to assemble the various cuts identified by the panels during an October 26, 2005 markup session.

This article focuses on various political issues in the U.S. Republicans hope to shift attention away from questions about the indictment that forced Representative Tom DeLay, of Texas, to step down last week as House majority leader and about the timing of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's decision to have his blind trust sell stock in his family's hospital business shortly before it lost value. Democrats are just as eager to keep the issues alive, along with questions about the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill to overhaul pension laws. The bill, a merger of efforts by the Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees, would tighten funding requirements for companies that sponsor traditional pension plans. On the money front, the Senate will try to wrap up work on the FY06 Defense appropriations bill. The House and Senate also are expected to clear the Homeland Security bill, making that only the third appropriations bill to be signed into law.

This article focuses on political decisions involving several issues like banking, defense and government operations in the U.S. The Congress will also wrestle with several Hurricane Katrina-related oversight hearings this week, even as the government starts sorting out how to deal with the aftermath of the latest storm to batter the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Rita. The Senate will take a brief detour for the expected confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States. The Senate Appropriations Committee is likely to approve funding this week for the Pentagon and supplemental appropriations for military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House Financial Services Domestic and International Policy Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the International Development Association, a subsidiary of the World Bank that makes interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries.

This article reports that the last week of July 2005 is bottleneck week for U.S. lawmakers, as the number of issues vying for attention exceeds the amount of time left before lawmakers leave town for the five-week August recess. Much of the attention will focus on the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which House GOP leaders hope to bring to a vote as early as possible. A number of other issues are competing for time on the floor or in committee, or for the attention of leaders. These include efforts to reach compromises on comprehensive energy legislation and federal transportation reauthorization language, stem-cell legislation, bills dealing with identity theft and, possibly, a vote on a permanent repeal of the estate tax.

The article presents news related to the field of politics in the United States. Lawmakers in the United States may sign off on a multi-year highway bill, but another extension of the expired program will be needed to allow time for final approval of the legislation and, presumably, for U.S. President George W. Bush to sign it. In an effort to skirt ethical concerns raised by some lawmakers, U.S. Senate leaders are going to promote a bill that would boost newer methods for extracting stem cells that would not harm embryos.

This article informs that lawmakers face a busy week leading up to the Independence Day recess, with the U.S. Senate set to wrap up comprehensive energy legislation, conferees from both chambers closing in on a compromise on a six-year highway bill and the House in the unusual position of being able to wrap up action on spending bills before July 4, 2005. Republican leaders also might bring the Central America Free Trade Agreement to the floor in at least one chamber. But two decisions that will go a long way toward determining how much work awaits Congress later in the year might be made this week across the street from the Capitol, at the Supreme Court.

This article presents information related to the pending DeMint bill which draws praise from the House Republicans in the U.S. A proposal by Senator Jim DeMint, to ensure that the Social Security surplus is used for personal accounts will be delayed but will still be introduced. Sources indicated that Senate supporters of the bill were trying to sign up House lawmakers to introduce bicameral legislation. The bill's original co-sponsors include Senate Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Senator Lindsey Graham.

The article reports that the Congressional agenda is starting to sound like a broken record. For the second straight week, energy bill and appropriations work are among the big issues items on tap, but again, concern about one of President George W. Bush's nominees is threatening to gum up the works. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist scheduled a cloture vote today on the nomination of John Bolton to be United States ambassador to the United Nations. Democrats blocked a previous attempt to force a final vote on the nomination and say they have enough votes to stretch out the debate until the administration provides documents related to Bolton's work as deputy undersecretary of State for arms control.

This article reports that work on national energy policy and the federal highway bill tops the agenda in the U.S. Congress in third week of June 2005. The Congress will also discusses on the lingering questions about two of U.S. President George W. Bush's key nominees — John Bolton for ambassador to the United Nations and Lester Crawford to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On energy, one of the first major issues to be discussed is an amendment by Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Jeff Bingaman mandating that 10% of electricity come from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, by 2020.

The article reports that the fights over judicial nominees and the U.S. President George W. Bush's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations return to the Senate floor, while conferees from both chambers will meet for the first time to start working out differences on federal highway bills. Less certain is the fate of John Bolton, President Bush's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations. Before the recess, Democrats defeated an effort to end debate on Bolton, saying they needed to see documents that the White House was withholding.

The article focuses on the debate running over judicial filibusters in the U.S. Senate. With a historic round-the-clock floor debate serving as a backdrop, a group of Senate moderates today will make a last-ditch effort to avoid a "nuclear" confrontation over judicial filibusters. With neither Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist nor Minority Leader Reid expected to back down before a pivotal Tuesday cloture vote--and the subsequent vote on a political parties' plan to eliminate judicial filibusters--a small band of Republican and Democratic moderates faces an uphill battle in putting together a deal that they can force on the leaders of both parties. Without a deal, Democrats are threatening to use procedural measures to bring most Senate business to a halt if Frist tries to take away the filibuster.

The article reports that after weeks of hype and threats, the much-discussed U.S. Senate filibuster fight will begin in May 2005 unless there is a breakthrough in negotiations or an emergency. Democrats have threatened to bring Senate business to a halt if Majority Leader Bill Frist succeeds in eliminating their use of the filibuster on votes to confirm judicial nominees. The all-out war that such steps would bring might occur later, but Frist's aides said he would kick off debate on the filibuster and two of U.S. President George W. Bush's nominees.

The article reports that with work on the FY06 budget wrapped up, U.S. lawmakers are set to begin the difficult task of writing discretionary spending bills for the next fiscal year. The House will meet to consider two measures under suspension of the rules, as well a bill to overhaul the federal deposit insurance system and a vocational and technical education measure. In addition to the budget, both chambers still have work to do on the FY05 supplemental measure, which largely provides money for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The article reports that the $284 billion highway bill moves to the U.S. Senate floor, but lawmakers hoping for a smooth journey to passage will probably have to contend with a detour — Senate recess — and might face major delays because of a festering fight over judges. While it appears unlikely that Majority Leader Bill Frist will interrupt floor debate on the transportation bill to address the judicial filibuster issue, an aide warned that Senate rules do not preclude him from doing so. The key is whether the proposed trims are small enough to win the acceptance of a few Senate holdouts. It remains unclear whether either leader would act during consideration of the six-year transportation reauthorization package.

The article reports on issues related to energy bill and immigration provisions, which created a commotion within the U.S. House. The House takes up a comprehensive energy bill while U.S. Senate leaders hope to bring debate on the $80.7 billion fiscal year 2005 supplemental spending bill to a close. The bill includes more than $8 billion in energy tax incentives over 10 years and $1.8 billion for conservation and efficiency efforts. The White House and congressional leaders argue the supplemental is too important to delay while lawmakers squabble over unrelated immigration issues.

The article reports that the tug-of-war over the FY05 spending bill moves to the U.S. Senate floor in second week of April 2005. The lawmakers from both parties are interested in adding funding for pet projects and conservative members trying to remove money for projects they do not consider to be emergencies. Across the Capitol, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will continue a markup of national energy policy legislation that was interrupted recently so some members could attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

The article reports that U.S. Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley plans a series of hearings on Social Security, probably after the spring recess as of March 2005. Grassley met Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on and discusses Social Security and other topics. On the Democratic side, Martin Olav Sabo of Minnesota waded into the Social Security debate Thursday by introducing legislation that would lock in the rate of interest paid to the Social Security Trust Fund. Law would establish the rate paid to the Trust Fund at 4.7 percent above inflation, a higher rate than the Trust Fund has averaged over the past decade, according to a Sabo aide.

This article reports that U.S. Congressional committees try to tackle two of the session's toughest topics, as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee marks up a highway bill and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee tries to break a log jam and send U.S. President George W. Bush's "Clear Skies" legislation to the floor. The full Senate will grapple with another thorny issue — whether to approve an abortion-related amendment that might scuttle bankruptcy legislation that would otherwise pass easily.

The article reports that Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican form South Carolina, is re-writing his bill to create Social Security private accounts and seeking to pump up benefits for lower-income workers to make the proposal more enticing to Democrats. One option being considered, is lowering the payroll tax from 12.4 to 11.2 percent, while raising the $90,000 capital on earnings subject to the payroll tax. Lowering the payroll tax across the board might appeal to members of both parties--Republicans who have decried the payroll tax as a job-killer, and Democrats who are critical of the tax because it falls more heavily on middle- to lower-income workers than on high earners.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush's much anticipated Social Security proposal might incur significant alteration in the House, where a Republican with purview over the issue will entertain major changes and additions in order to secure congressional passage. Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McCrery of Louisiana described a process that will bring significant new thought to bear on Bush's plans after they are unveiled, which the president is planning to do as early as next week's State of the Union speech.

The article presents information about various activities taking place in the U.S. politics. The conflict between wanting to pass meaningful legislation to campaign on and actually getting back to the district in time to campaign is likely to be resolved this week, with House and Senate leaders hoping to wrap up work on several spending bills and trying to agree on a sweeping restructuring of U.S. intelligence operations before adjourning Friday. Majority Leader and Minority Leader filed a cloture motion Friday to speed debate on the bill and clear the way to begin work on internal changes of congressional oversight of intelligence matters. The House is expected to take up the bill, introduced by House Education and the Workforce Chairman and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman, under the suspension calendar.

The article presents information about the various proceedings of the U.S. Congress. The House and Senate will turn to a stopgap continuing resolution to keep government programs running after the fiscal year ends, while the Republican majority in the House will try to gain a political edge in the weeks before the November 2, 2004 elections by considering measures in support of gun rights and in opposition to same-sex marriage. As the number of legislative days before the election dwindles, both chambers will also move ahead on bills that would revamp U.S. intelligence operations, and House and Senate conferees will try to resolve their longstanding and deep seated differences on a transportation reauthorization bill.

The article reports that the U.S. Congress is picking up the pace this week, with both the U.S. Congress House and Senate moving to extend a series of politically popular tax cuts and the Senate scheduling consideration of four appropriations bills on the floor and two more in committee. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee also plans Tuesday and Wednesday to mark up legislation designed to reshape the federal government's intelligence operations. A measure to extend the $1,000 child tax credit and other expiring tax cuts through 2010 appears to be on a course for comfortable passage by the end of the week in both the House and Senate.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush administration has been expected to send to Capitol Hill a smaller-than-anticipated request for about $2.5 billion in additional FY04 disaster aid for Florida, following last week's swift approval by Congress of a $2 billion down payment before the full costs of hurricanes could be tabulated. The opening salvo could happen as early as this week in the U.S. Senate if Republican leaders decide to add hurricane relief funds to the pending $32 billion FY05 Homeland Security appropriations bill, slated for completion Tuesday night. But leaders are wary of slowing down the must-pass bill on the floor and instead may seek to insert the money later in conference or on another legislative vehicle.

After lots of wrangling and little accomplishment in recent days, the U.S. House and Senate expect to have something to show for their efforts in July, 2004. Meanwhile, House Republican leaders will try to finish off two more FY05 appropriations bills. The Senate could take up its version of the $10 billion Military Construction bill in July, 2004, as well as a $2.5 billion FY05 measure funding Legislative Branch operations, and possibly a $32 billion Homeland Security bill, although Senate Appropriations Chairman downplayed that possibility.

With legislative days dwindling and a week of unusually harsh rancor and little progress behind them, lawmakers will try again this week to settle their differences on Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) appropriations bills and a six-year transportation funding reauthorization plan. The Senate will also vote Wednesday, July 14, 2004 on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. Action on the FY05 Legislative Branch spending bill is expected in the House today, and debate on the Agriculture measure is scheduled to begin today and wrap up Tuesday.

Bipartisan legislation overhauling the rules for class action lawsuits is scheduled for long-awaited floor action in the U.S. Senate, and conference work looms on transportation and defense as the U.S. House and Senate return from the July 2004 Fourth recess. The bill, sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley, would move many class action lawsuits from state court to federal court, where more stringent rules would govern the cases. Business groups and Republican sponsors are urging the Senate to approve the compromise bill without amendments.

Last week, the U.S. House joined the Senate in passing legislation to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax regime and replace it with a variety of tax breaks for businesses totaling well over $100 billion. But key differences in the two chambers' approach to the legislation signal difficulties ahead when House and Senate negotiators attempt to reconcile the two versions. In addition to manufactured goods, movies, recordings, timber and construction, architectural and engineering services for projects in the United States qualify for the income tax cut.

Both chambers are likely to be dominated by appropriations work this week, although the Senate could detour into class action legislation and the House will deal with intelligence authorization and budget enforcement measures. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist had planned to move to the class action bill after the Senate finished the FY05 defense authorization bill, and he told the National Federation of Independent Business Friday that remains the schedule. But he acknowledged he could move to either the FY05 Defense or Homeland Security appropriations bills, and leadership aides said Friday it appears more likely he will go to the Defense appropriations bill instead.

U.S. Congress returns to work today, 17 June, 2004, one week deeper into its legislative calendar due to the death of former Former President Ronald Reagan, but still faces the same pile of unfinished business. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist remains intent on pushing forward with his full agenda of legislative priorities for the year, starting this week with the completion of the fiscal year 2005 (FY05) defense authorization bill. Frist then will move to class action legislation and the annual FY05 appropriations bills, a Senate aide said, before tackling other issues.

This article informs that the U.S. Senate GOP leaders hope to finish work this week on the FY05 defense authorization bill and perhaps return to legislation to restrict class action lawsuits, while House Republicans plan to bring a succession of energy bills to the floor designed more for political advantage than for enactment. Supporters of the president's plan say the money would pay for a study only, and that no new nuclear weapons are envisioned. The Senate also is expected to vote on an amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan that would ban the use of special operations or other military aircraft for broadcasting the U.S. television and radio programs to Cuba.

The U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist hopes to begin floor consideration today on a bipartisan bill overhauling rules for class action lawsuits. But he is unlikely to get the 60 votes he needs to invoke cloture on his motion to proceed with the bill, because most Senate Democrats, including many co-sponsors of the class action measure, oppose taking up that legislation before the Senate completes its action on the FY05 defense authorization bill. But Minority Leader Thomas Daschle is pushing the Senate to finish the defense bill before taking up class action.

As the U.S. House and U.S. Senate both take their fiscal year 2005 defense authorization bills to the floor this week, controversy surrounding military base closings, the Pentagon's Boeing 767 tanker proposal and so-called Buy America provisions will likely stir heated debate. The Senate version of the bill supports a 2005 base closing round and is not likely to accede to the House committee's position if the delay makes it to conference. The U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman is expected to present to Republican Party leaders in the coming days details of a revamped corporate tax bill that could gain House passage and send the bill repealing the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax break to a conference committee.

While the U.S. House of Representatives takes up a package of three health-related bills this week, the U.S. Senate may finally complete work on a corporate tax bill and attempt to send the transportation reauthorization to conference. Off the floors, congressional Republicans are preparing a last-ditch effort to salvage the financial year 2005 budget resolution, in what some aides predict will be the final week before Republican Party leaders give up and launch the financial year 2005 appropriations process without a spending blueprint.

While the U.S. House takes up a package of three health-related bills this week, the U.S. Senate may finally complete work on a corporate tax bill and attempt to send the transportation reauthorization to conference. The House this week also is expected to pass a bill from Representative Pete Sessions, to make permanent the expansion of the 10 percent tax bracket that was a part of the 2001 tax cut law and which expires at the end of this year. After weeks of wrangling, the Senate appears to be in position to pass this week the bill that repeals the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax break and replaces it with $170 billion in new tax breaks for companies, Senate aides and lobbyists said.

The article presents information about developments in the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Senate Republican leaders are expecting to pass the corporate legislation that solves the festering trade dispute with the European Union. As that debate gets under way, Senate-House negotiators also will continue to search for elusive agreements on an FY05 budget resolution and the reauthorization bill for federal highway and transit programs. According to Republican Party aide, the corporate tax bill's managers have a tentative agreement on the first several amendments that would be considered addressing outsourcing, more tax benefits for manufacturers and expanding trade adjustment assistance to service employees.

The U.S. Senate Republican leaders are hoping the third time will be the charm as they return to corporate tax legislation that solves a festering trade dispute with the European Union, with the aim of completing work on the bill by the end of the week. As that debate gets under way, Senate-House negotiators also will continue to search for elusive agreements on an FY05 budget resolution and the reauthorization bill for federal highway and transit programs. Republican leaders, along with key transportation and tax lawmakers, will meet with White House Chief of Staff Card Tuesday afternoon in Senate Majority Leader William Frist's office to continue negotiating a final price tag for a bicameral, six-year transportation reauthorization bill.

As the U.S. House and Senate GOP budget leaders continue to struggle toward an agreement on the FY05 budget resolution, the Senate will begin again on April 26, 2004, to deal with extending an expired moratorium on Internet access taxes, while the House prepares for debate on politically popular tax legislation. One of the bills would ban taxes on all types of Internet access, including direct subscriber-line services. Another bill would prohibit states from taxing the end-users of DSL but would allow taxes on certain business-to-business transactions during the delivery of DSL services.

The U.S. Senate will start slowly this week, with no votes scheduled today or Tuesday in light of Passover. But Senate Republicans are eyeing another cloture vote Wednesday or Thursday on the corporate tax measure that repeals the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax break. GOP leaders have signaled they will allow a vote on an amendment overturning Labor Department overtime rules, and they hope it will increase the pressure on moderate Democrats who support the tax bill but voted against cloture in March because of the impasse on overtime. Given the Democrats' continued insistence on offering a number of amendments beyond the overtime measure, one Senate Democratic source expressed doubt a second cloture vote would succeed.

U.S. House Ways and Means chairman Bill Thomas last week gave a group of 200 tax lobbyists, accountants, lawyers and executives a thorough dressing down at the Tax Executives' Institute's mid-year conference. Thomas said the broader business community had allowed a few companies to thwart his proposal for repeal of the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax regime—which he claimed was the best chance in decades to reduce the tax burden on overseas profits generated by multinational firms.

The U.S. House, this week plans to take up the FY05 budget resolution — if leadership can whip up the necessary 218 votes — while the U.S. Senate struggles with legislation to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income tax structure that has prompted Europe to impose trade sanctions on the United States. Republican conservatives and moderates alike are upset, no guarantees have been given to bring budget enforcement legislation to the floor. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats' demands, for a vote on a controversial amendment to block new Labor Department rules on overtime pay, have put Senate Majority Leader between a rock and a hard place, as he attempts to bring corporate tax legislation back to the Senate floor.

U.S. House Republicans are hoping to use a push from U.S. President George W. Bush administration for reform of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) as a springboard for more sweeping reform of the tax code that moves away from an income-based tax and toward a consumption-based tax, starting next year. Republicans and Democrats agree Congress urgently needs to undertake legislation addressing the AMT—which, because it is not indexed for inflation, captures a growing number of taxpayers each year.