Measure

WASHINGTON -- The Senate yesterday approved a long-debated measure that would expand the federal hate-crime law to cover violence against gays and, in an unusual gambit to make it difficult for President Bush to carry out his veto threat, attached it to a defense bill. Supporters of the hate-crime legislation mustered the minimum 60 votes they needed to overcome a threatened filibuster. The House approved the bill earlier this year as a stand-alone measure, but neither chamber appears to have the votes to override a veto.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- There are laws - even ethics rules - against buying votes in Congress. Lobbyists (Jack Abramoff and others) went to prison for attempting to buy votes, and congressmen (Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Bob Ney) went to prison for selling them. As with so many things Congress does, the rules it makes for others do not always apply to some of its members. In the scandalous, shortsighted sellout of American troops in Iraq, a slim Democratic House majority passed a measure that Speaker and top vote-buyer Nancy Pelosi claimed would "end the war in Iraq."

The Maryland Senate appears headed toward a bitter debate over a contentious measure that would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Maryland colleges. Senate Republicans, saying the measure would reward lawbreakers, have threatened to filibuster if the bill comes to the floor. "This is terrible policy," said Sen. Andrew P. Harris, a Baltimore County Republican. He said while Democrats may have the votes to break a filibuster, he is doubtful they would try to do so. "I don't think anyone would want to expend political capital on this issue," Harris said.

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats threatened yesterday to take up a resolution next week to oppose President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq, cranking up the pressure on Republicans who have blocked a vote on the measure in the Senate. The move would shift the focus of the debate over the nearly four-year-old war to the House, where Democrats have enough votes to pass a measure over Republican opposition. It may also further isolate the White House and its allies in the Senate, who are bucking public opinion that has turned sharply against the Iraq war and the president's plans to expand it. Democrats pressured Bush to change course as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told lawmakers that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year - if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met. He also said that the buildup in troops is "not the last chance" to succeed in Iraq and added, "I would be irresponsible if I weren't thinking about what the alternatives might be."

The unhappy exodus of GOP lawmakers from Congress lately undoubtedly reflects their party's slim chance of regaining majority status in next year's elections. But there is also a palpable frustration - even among lawmakers who are staying - that Congress is no place at the moment for politicians who want to get something done. As lawmakers return to Washington tomorrow for the final weeks of this year's session, they face a daunting workload: spending measures financing most of the government, an energy bill to encourage conservation, a farm bill with major cleanup help for the Chesapeake Bay, legislation to limit the greenhouse emissions that speed global warming, an expansion of health care for working-class children and an 11th-hour rescue of middle-class taxpayers from an imminent tax increase.

ISSUE: An Annapolis alderman will introduce a resolution tomorrow night that would express atonement for slavery. Taking a page from similar efforts at the state level and by the Virginia legislature, Alderman Sam Shropshire said his resolution would "continue to bring about racial healing in our city and state." Shropshire's measure also calls for a week of atonement during which schools and civic organization could discuss the city's involvement in the African slave trade. YOUR VIEW: What are your thoughts on the measure?

WASHINGTON --The Senate rejected yesterday a Democratic resolution to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq in 2008, but a similar measure advanced in the House, and Democratic leaders vowed to keep challenging President Bush to change course in Iraq. The vote in the Senate was 50 against and 48 in favor, 12 short of what was needed to pass, with a few defections in each party. It came just hours after the House Appropriations Committee, in another vote largely on party lines, approved an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan that also includes a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.

WASHINGTON -- The Republican-led Congress narrowly approved last night the first major tax cut in two decades, then went home to try to sell the sweeping $792 billion measure to their wary constituents before President Clinton can veto it.Acting within hours of each other, the House and Senate passed the bill with only a handful of votes to spare before leaving for a monthlong summer recess."

Legislation to guarantee that all prisoners have legal representation at their bail reviews -- a measure aimed at easing court and jail overcrowding -- was killed yesterday by a Senate committee.The bill, which would have required the public defender's office to represent indigent defendants at such reviews rather than forcing them to navigate the system alone, was defeated on a 6-5 vote in the Judicial Proceedings Committee.Advocates of the bill said they were dismayed by the outcome, saying they were particularly surprised by Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell IV, a Baltimore Democrat, who voted against the bail measure after telling backers he supported it."

With two weeks left in the General Assembly's annual 90-day session, legislators face a handful of explosive issues, including a nearly fourfold increase in the cigarette tax, a ban on certain abortions and a gay rights measure -- each of which could rise or fall on the vote of a single lawmaker.Several significant bills appear headed for enactment before the session ends April 12 -- among them an ambitious scholarship program, sweeping ethics reform for lawmakers and a landmark bill giving thousands of state employees collective-bargaining rights.

Brewers@Indians 7 p.m. [ESPN] It's either a cost-cutting measure (ESPN was already in Cleveland for Sunday night's game) or it's really just a light schedule in interleague play, but the Cleveland Indians are the national game two nights in a row - and they stink this season.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, seeking to highlight his administration's public safety efforts, agreed Tuesday to crack down on repeat drunken drivers, to catch speeders through automated cameras and to expand judges' power to take guns from domestic abusers. The Democratic governor also signed into law a measure strengthening penalties for the possession of child pornography - a measure that critics worry could ensnare teenagers increasingly engaged in the practice of "sexting," or sharing nude images via cell-phone message.

The Maryland House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Saturday to measures aimed at removing phosphorus from the Chesapeake Bay, mercury from old cars and toxins from baby bottles. Over nearly four hours of debate on scores of bills, lawmakers also gave final approval to a measure requiring police agencies to improve record-keeping on SWAT teams in light of a Berwyn Heights police raid last summer in which the town mayor's dogs were killed. A similar bill has already passed the state Senate.

WASHINGTON -Struggling to keep ahead of public outrage over the actions of Wall Street firms, the House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that seeks to recoup the lion's share of the $165 million in bonuses paid to executives of American International Group Inc. The House measure, hurriedly drawn up on the orders of Democratic leadership, imposes a 90 percent tax on those who were paid bonuses at AIG and other firms as long as their families earned...

Promising that revenue from slots machines would provide a "significant and permanent reduction" in city property taxes, Mayor Sheila Dixon and other local elected officials yesterday urged city residents to vote for a November ballot measure to expand gambling in the state. "I made it very clear, so I hope you report it very clear: I'm supporting Question 2 to reduce the property tax," Dixon said at a news conference, referring to the slots referendum on the ballot. The referendum would authorize 15,000 machines at five slots parlors across the state, including one in Baltimore.

The Annapolis city council has passed an ordinance that requires work crews installing or working on underground utilities to have at least one member on site who is fluent in English. Alderman Samuel E. Shropshire, a Ward 7 Democrat, introduced the legislation in February, after residents in his district complained that maintenance workers severed phone and cable lines, leaving them without electricity and phone and cable service for days. The workers apparently didn't speak English and couldn't communicate safety information.

WASHINGTON -- Jittery about a political backlash over gasoline costs as prices set yet another record yesterday, Congress voted to halt deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in defiance of President Bush. The action was expected to have a modest impact on pump prices, saving motorists an estimated 2 cents to 5 cents a gallon, backers said. But its overwhelming support, including from Bush's usual GOP allies, underscored the potency of fuel costs as a campaign issue this year. The measure is likely to be one of the few Congress approves this year in response to public angst at the pump as Democrats and Republicans agreed on little else yesterday to bring down prices.

President Bush yesterday signed into law a measure aimed at preventing falls among senior citizens. The Safety of Seniors Act of 2007 seeks to raise awareness - through education and research - of how falls affect seniors and what can be done to protect them. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, who who chairs a subcommittee on aging, has pushed the measure for several years. Falls are the leading cause of death stemming from injury among people over age 65, accounting for 1.8 million emergency room visits and $27 billion in health care costs every year.

My daughter's ice-blue eyes focus straight into my brown ones. Since she was a small girl, she has measured her height - her achievement of growth - against my adult stature of a mere 5 foot 3. She likes to stand toe-to-toe with me to see how she compares. First, she came to my waist. Then my chest. Soon she met my shoulders, then my chin - and now my middle-age gaze. When she was 4, her preschool class calculated their height, the stretch of their torsos, the length of their legs and the reach of their arms.

The unhappy exodus of GOP lawmakers from Congress lately undoubtedly reflects their party's slim chance of regaining majority status in next year's elections. But there is also a palpable frustration - even among lawmakers who are staying - that Congress is no place at the moment for politicians who want to get something done. As lawmakers return to Washington tomorrow for the final weeks of this year's session, they face a daunting workload: spending measures financing most of the government, an energy bill to encourage conservation, a farm bill with major cleanup help for the Chesapeake Bay, legislation to limit the greenhouse emissions that speed global warming, an expansion of health care for working-class children and an 11th-hour rescue of middle-class taxpayers from an imminent tax increase.