Congress set for combative pre-election push
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U.S. lawmakers return to work on  Tuesday from a month-long recess with time running out for  Republicans to pass legislation and impress unhappy voters as  they try to retain control of Congress in November 7 elections.
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With elections on the horizon, the Labour government was preparing to draw the battle lines on economic policy in the annual pre-budget report.
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A Senate famous for its "deliberative pace" is hoping to rush out bills this week bolstering pensions, raising the minimum wage and cutting taxes before departing the Capitol and shifting their re-election campaigns into high gear.
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Congress will mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a pre-election agenda focusing on national security-related issues.
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House and Senate leaders were pushing for some legislative achievements before heading home to campaign.
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Like many schoolchildren, members of Congress were due back at their desks Tuesday after a summer break. Unlike the students, lawmakers will immediately face major tests: on Iraq, children's health care, a home mortgage crisis and the budget.
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Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible White House candidate, will lend a hand to congressional candidates, several of whom just happen to be in presidential battleground states.
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With midterm elections around the corner, President Bush on Thursday will launch a series of speeches aimed at bolstering support for what the White House calls the "single ideological struggle" against terrorism, including the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.
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Less than five months before congressional elections, Republicans and Democrats maneuvered for political advantage Wednesday as the Senate debated the Iraq war and the future of 127,000 U.S. troops in the war zone.
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Chicago Tribune - Despite Republican victories in the elections this week, much of President Bush's agenda faces considerable head winds in Congress, particularly the Senate.
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The 109th U.S. Congress convened on  Tuesday with aid for victims of the Asian tsunami the emergency  top priority -- ahead of thorny domestic issues such as Social  Security and judicial nominees.
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Democrats in the US are planning a Senate challenge to President George W Bush's handling of the Iraq war.
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WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats made little headway in their efforts to build up a meaningful majority in Tuesday&#39;s battles over 34 Senate seats.
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The House neared action Wednesday on requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship in order to vote, and the Senate moved to build a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border, sharpening attacks on illegal immigration before the midterm elections.
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Although next TuesdayÃ¢ÂÂs congressional primaries in the state of Washington are not expected to yield any surprises, they likely will confirm several competitive general election matchups that are garnering national attention.
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The deciding votes in this critical battleground state could be cast long before President George W Bush and challenger John Kerry make their final pleas to voters.
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The Iraq war debate in Congress is expected to heat up this week as the Senate takes up a major defense spending bill and the Pentagon rushes to finish a report on the war's progress.