House of Representatives

Senate Republicans delivered a serious setback to the community of Ground Zero responders and their families today by blocking the Zadroga bill from coming to a vote.

China attacked the U.S. congressional resolution on convicted Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, and urged U.S. policymakers to change arrogant and rude attitude. The country's foreign ministry maintained that Liu, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was not arrested over his calls for democracy, but for the reason that he tried to destabilize the state. Meanwhile, the Nobel committee announced that as many as 18 countries have joined China in the boycott of the Oslo event.

With the end of the 111th Congress fast approaching and both the Senate and the House of Representatives scrambling to get major legislation passed before Dec. 31, many industries and organizations are pressuring lawmakers not to forget their needs.

The House of Representatives, early this morning, introduced a continuing resolution budget proposal that wraps all the major spending bills Congress has yet to pass into one, while freezing Fiscal Year 2011 discretionary spending at Fiscal Year 2010 levels.

Disgraced Rep. Charles Bernard Rangel (D-N.Y.) has been censured by the U.S. House of Representatives for ethics violation but narrowly escaped expulsion.

The U.S. Senate has unanimously voted for lawyers to be exempted from the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Red Flags Rule, which seeks to curb identity theft among credit and financial regulatory agencies through costly and burdensome prevention and detection programs.

Unemployment insurance expired for approximately 800,000 out-of-work Americans yesterday, and two million more will lose their benefits at the end of the year, unless Congress takes action to extend the benefits.

The American people did not vote for political gridlock in Washington, according to President Barack Obama who today met with Congressional leaders from both parties to discuss what they consider the main components of the national agenda.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who has been found guilty of ethics violations, could become the congressman to be censured since 1983 if the full House of Representatives approves the punishment recommended by the congressional ethics committee.

Supporters of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act may be looking at the measure’s last best chance of becoming law.

In Bangkok, on Sunday, a debate was brewing as scores of people gathered to condole the death of more than 2,000 young souls. They placed milk, baby clothes and toys at the morgue of a Buddhist temple where foetuses were found hidden in plastic bags last week. The morgue at the now detested Wat Phai Ngern, is to be demolished next week after a cleansing ritual. The traditionally orthodox Buddhist country, had ruled out abortion on morals grounds.

The saga surrounding the extension (or repeal) of George W. Bush’s tax cuts seems to be changing daily, almost hourly. It’s a highly complex and contentious issue that will (perhaps unfortunately) be decided solely by politics.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, has been found guilty of 11 ethics violations by a House Ethics Adjudicatory Subcommittee today, following about six hours of deliberations.

Japan's Lower House on Tuesday passed a new stimulus plan even as experts believe that the country's surprise economic performance in the third quarter will stall in the fourth quarter due to slowing exports and a stronger yen.

A two-year investigation into possible ethics violations by U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, led today to the beginning of a trial before an eight-member, bipartisan House subcommittee. Rangel’s first move was to request a postponement.

A big point of contention at the G20 Business Summit is how to reconcile the need for growth with the need to address environmental problems.

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged changes in the U.S. tax code that would allow the government to collect taxes on companies that create foreign jobs.