Anti-Obscenity Groups Worry About Priorities of Gonzales
WASHINGTON - The new attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, has launched a wide-ranging review of federal law aimed at strengthening the hand of federal prosecutors who go after adult pornography that is...
View ArticleSilence Is Rule in Fight Over Social Security
WASHINGTON - While Senators Clinton and Schumer oppose President Bush's proposal to create individual retirement accounts using Social Security taxes, they are declining to put forward...
View ArticleNYC May Win a Chance to Try Out Vouchers
WASHINGTON - The nation's first federal school voucher experiment is still in its early days in Washington, but President Bush has already asked Congress for money to expand it to other cities, and New...
View ArticleGOP Delegation May Yet Balk at Bush's Plan
WASHINGTON - Several Republican congressmen from New York say they will not endorse President Bush's proposal to create individual retirement savings accounts until they see more details from the White...
View ArticleDemocrats Lob Counterthreat in Face of 'Nuclear Option'
WASHINGTON - Democrats yesterday threatened to shut down Senate business if Republicans deploy the so-called "nuclear option" in the war over judicial nominations, ending the ability of senators to...
View ArticleClinton Sponsors Bill To Fight Teenage Pregnancy
WASHINGTON - Senator Clinton, who has trumpeted her desire to seek "common ground" with the anti-abortion movement, planned to introduce legislation today to increase public funding for teaching...
View ArticleBipartisan Unity For Bill Supporting Workplace Religion
WASHINGTON - A bill that would place a heavier burden on employers to accommodate the religious practices of their employees has a good chance of becoming law this year, a bipartisan group of its...
View ArticleCongress Approves Bill To Open Way in Court For Bid To Save Schiavo
WASHINGTON President Bush early today signed emergency legislation allowing the parents of Theresa Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman, to continue their battle to keep her alive. In a...
View ArticleJustices Hear Case On Religious Rights Of Prison Inmates
WASHINGTON - With Chief Justice Rehnquist back on the bench for the first time since undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, the Supreme Court yesterday gave a mostly friendly reception to lawyers...
View ArticleParents Move to Appellate Court
WASHINGTON - Backed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the parents of a brain-damaged Florida woman took her case to a federal appellate court in Atlanta yesterday after a district court judge in Tampa...
View ArticleCustody Battle Erupts Over a Dying Schiavo
WASHINGTON - The governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, yesterday sought to put a severely brain-damaged Florida woman into state protective custody after a federal appeals court declined to order that her...
View ArticleBush: 'Err on the Side of Life'
WASHINGTON - Facing the imminent death of their daughter from starvation and dehydration, the parents of a severely brain-injured Florida woman turned to the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, in a...
View ArticleClash Over Foreign Law Due in High Court Today
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will consider today whether American courts are bound by the decisions of the International Court of Justice, a tribunal created by the United Nations and based in The...
View ArticleSupreme Court Weighs Role Of World Court
WASHINGTON - A last-minute decision by President Bush in February to comply with a decision of the International Court of Justice may save his administration from a broader ruling by the U.S. Supreme...
View ArticleJustices Appear Wary of File-sharing Copyright Lawsuit
WASHINGTON - Holding the makers of popular Internet file-sharing software responsible for copyright violations could have a chilling effect on the creation of the next generation of photocopiers and...
View ArticleLabor Plans Rally Against Private Accounts
WASHINGTON - Hundreds of labor union members were preparing to demonstrate today in front of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Battery Park to protest Wall Street support of President Bush's plan to create...
View ArticleWith Schiavo Dead, Bush Emphasizes 'Culture of Life'
WASHINGTON - The brain-damaged Florida woman at the center of a family feud that flared into a national firestorm died yesterday morning, nearly two weeks after a judge ordered her feeding tube...
View ArticleUSA Patriot Act Again Proves Dividing Force
WASHINGTON - Four years after the USA Patriot Act became law, the fiery debate surrounding it will be rekindled today as congressional lawmakers consider whether to renew provisions of the law that are...
View ArticleSenate Eying Charitable Scams
WASHINGTON - Reports of elaborate schemes by charities and nonprofit organizations to avoid paying taxes have senators redoubling calls for stronger regulation of the charitable sector. In one example,...
View ArticlePork-Barrel Outlays Surge But N.Y. Delegation Lags In Bringing Dollars Home
WASHINGTON - Despite mounting public debt, a costly war, and a spending freeze on many government programs, members of Congress have set aside more money this year for pet projects in their own...
View ArticleClinton Joins Democrats' Values Push
WASHINGTON - Congress should pass legislation protecting religious liberties in the workplace, and America should help Iraqis write a constitution that will respect freedom of conscience even if it is...
View ArticleSenator Won't Apologize for Linking Judicial Politics, Violence
WASHINGTON - A Republican senator who said judges could be inviting violence because of politically motivated decisions declined to apologize for his remarks yesterday. Senator Cornyn, a Republican of...
View ArticleMayor Seeks Risk-Based Terror Funding
WASHINGTON - Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged yesterday that despite New York's push to give the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, exclusive control over federal antiterrorism spending,...
View ArticleHouse Votes To Repeal The Estate Tax for All
WASHINGTON - Proclaiming that they did not want to give a tax break to the likes of hotel heiress Paris Hilton, House Democrats yesterday pushed a proposal to exempt all but the very wealthiest...
View ArticleBuffalo Native Is Seen as a Confirmable Conservative
WASHINGTON - If President Bush is looking for a potential Supreme Court nominee with conservative credentials who would inspire a minimum of fuss at a confirmation hearing, he may turn to Judge John...
View ArticleSchumer Calls a Conservative 'Un-American'
WASHINGTON - Senator Schumer yesterday labeled the head of the conservative Christian Family Research Council "un-American" for accusing Democrats of using the filibuster to block religious judicial...
View ArticleSupreme Court Takes Up Case That Pits Drug Laws Against Religious Liberties
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether worshippers of a Brazilian-based Christian faith can use hallucinogenic tea during their services, in a case that could shape the federal...
View ArticlePresident Bush Hails Benedict XVI as a 'Man of Great Wisdom'
WASHINGTON - President Bush hailed the newly chosen Pope Benedict XVI as a "man of great wisdom," but his election drew mixed political reactions yesterday. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's condemnation of...
View ArticleSchumer Blasts Proposed Hearings On Judges' Conduct
WASHINGTON - Senator Schumer yesterday condemned a suggestion by the House majority leader, Rep. Tom DeLay, that Congress examine whether judges could be removed from the bench for their...
View ArticleFrist to Conservatives: Respect Independence of Judiciary
WASHINGTON - Senator Frist told religious conservatives yesterday to respect the independence of the judiciary, while demanding that senators end Democrats' ability to filibuster and block confirmation...
View ArticleClinton, Schumer Hold Fast Against Personal Accounts
WASHINGTON - Senators Clinton and Schumer and their fellow Democrats are holding a firm line against the president's proposal to carve personal accounts out of Social Security taxes, as the Senate...
View ArticleHearing on Social Security Showcases Partisan Divide
WASHINGTON - A Senate panel hearing yesterday that was intended to foment bipartisan consensus on overhauling Social Security instead showcased the difficulty of reaching such a compromise. "The only...
View ArticleNadler Heads Group Pushing Overhaul Of USA Patriot Act
WASHINGTON - Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat of New York, is heading up a bipartisan group of lawmakers who will press for overhaul of the USA Patriot Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of law...
View ArticleBush Aide Says President Is Open To Compromise on Social Security
WASHINGTON - President Bush will not insist that personal retirement accounts be included in any Social Security reform passed by Congress, a senior White House aide indicated yesterday. In a round of...
View ArticleReport: Federal Spending Is At A 30-Year High
WASHINGTON - President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in federal spending since President Johnson created the "Great Society" of social welfare programs, a new report concludes....
View ArticleLawmakers Debate Immigrants' Effect On U.S. Employment
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers grappled yesterday with the impact of immigration on American employment at a time when President Bush favors a guest worker program that would match willing employers with...
View ArticleThe AARP's Most Powerful Lobbyist Plots a Hard Line
WASHINGTON - Most Americans haven't heard of John Rother, but he may have more influence than most senators when it comes to the future of Social Security. As the policy director and chief lobbyist for...
View ArticleSupreme Court Ruling Levels the Wine Field
WASHINGTON - New Yorkers could soon be able to order wine over the Internet directly from out-of-state wineries thanks to a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that held state liquor regulations...
View ArticleAmerica Warns China on Trade
WASHINGTON - In its strongest criticism yet of China's exchange rate policy, the Bush administration yesterday warned China to stop undervaluing its currency amid renewed congressional calls for trade...
View ArticleSenate Begins a Showdown Over Judges
WASHINGTON - The Senate opened a fiery debate yesterday over one of President Bush's contentious judicial nominees, kicking off a partisan showdown that could result in the end of the minority party's...
View ArticleFilibuster Deal Has Democrats Claiming Victory
WASHINGTON - Democratic senators yesterday said they had scored a victory with a bipartisan compromise that preserves the minority party's right to filibuster judicial nominations. Senator Schumer...
View ArticleSenator Eyes City Hospital in Tax Debate
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee is targeting a number of tax-exempt hospitals, including New York-Presbyterian, as part of an ongoing review of tax abuses in the...
View ArticleDemocrats Rush to Defense of New York Hospitals
WASHINGTON - New York Democrats leaped on congressional Republicans yesterday for questioning the justification for exempting nonprofit hospitals - a mainstay of health care in the state - from having...
View ArticleNadler Up in Arms Over Stem Cell Debate
WASHINGTON - Behind the stately desk of his Capitol Hill office, the normally agreeable Rep. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan and Brooklyn suddenly began to fume. "How dare they," he growled, almost...
View ArticlePrisoner Religious Liberties Law Upheld
WASHINGTON - Prisoners in state custody are entitled to broad federal protections for religious practice in prison, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a unanimous decision that upheld a five-year-old...
View ArticleHouse Panel Inquires Into City Hospital
WASHINGTON - Congress is yet again asking New York-Presbyterian Hospital to provide detailed information about its operations. This time, a House panel is scrutinizing how the nation's largest...
View ArticleJustices: Federal Marijuana Statutes Trump State Laws
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court dealt a blow to the medicinal marijuana movement yesterday, ruling that strict federal drug laws trump state schemes that allow ailing patients to grow and consume...
View ArticleLawmaker Brings Jarring Sudan Images to the Capitol
WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman from Virginia who has seen firsthand the suffering in the Darfur region of western Sudan is determined to confront his colleagues with the same harrowing images as...
View ArticleFlorida Governor Moves To Defend Voucher Program
Lawyers for Governor Bush yesterday asked the Florida Supreme Court to uphold the nation's largest school voucher program, a centerpiece of his education reform policy, after an appellate court ruled...
View Article2nd Circuit's Jose Cabranes Offers Bipartisan Appeal
WASHINGTON - If President Bush were to try to nominate to the Supreme Court a judge with bipartisan appeal, his sights could land on a Puerto Rican native who grew up in the South Bronx. Judge Jose...
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