Senate

Illegal immigrants could obtain Maryland driver's licenses under a measure the General Assembly sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley on Friday, and that aides said the governor supports. The measure , which passed the House of Delegates 82 to 55, would reinstate and expand a program that allowed some immigrants to obtain licenses prior to 2009, when it was ended so Maryland could conform to a stricter, federal rule on IDs. Maryland lawmakers, however, voted to repeal that decision.

The Senate panel plowing through a huge immigration reform bill on Capitol Hill agreed on Tuesday to tighten the monitoring requirements of foreign students in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing . The amendment would require the Department of Homeland Security to transfer all student visa information to border control agents at the nation's 329 ports of entry. The measure, proposed by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), was prompted by an alleged accomplice of the accused Boston bombers, who was...

When someone in the Washington area begins to type the president's last name into the search box of Google's home page, the top three terms it suggests as the most popular selections are Obama, Obamacare and . . . Obama phone. Obama phone? A hotline, maybe, to the Oval Office? Hardly. "Obama phone" is the widely used — and misleading — nickname of a 28-year-old federal program known as Lifeline . It provides discounts, averaging $9.25 a month, on phone service for 13.3 million...

WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Libya, a post that has been vacant since insurgents attacked the diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. With little discussion, the panel on a voice vote approved Deborah Kay Jones, a career diplomat who has served in Kuwait, Argentina, Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the committee,...

Two truths are all too often overshadowed in today's political discourse: Public service is a most honorable pursuit, and so is bipartisanship. I have been immeasurably honored to serve the people of Maine for nearly 40 years in public office and for the past 17 years in the United States Senate. It was incredibly difficult to decide that I would not seek a fourth term in the Senate . Some people were surprised by my conclusion, yet I have spoken on the floor of the Senate for years about the dysfunction and political...

1 . Marco Rubio is too inexperienced to be vice president. Rubio's short time in Washington — he's been in the Senate only since January 2011 — is often cited as a drawback to his joining the Republican ticket. Well, there was another freshman senator whom voters deemed ready for the White House not long ago: Barack Obama. Obama had been in the Senate barely two years when he announced that he was running for president. He came to Washington after serving three terms in the Illinois legislature.

With the pick of Caroline Kennedy as his ambassador to Japan , President Obama seems to be channeling an unlikely muse: Richard Nixon . Obama and Tricky Dick are generally thought to have little in common. But on ambassadorships, the two presidents seem quite sympatico. Our pals over at the University of Virginia's Miller Center , whose scholars are transcribing and annotating all the secret White House tapes, noted a parallel between Obama's selection of Kennedy, a well-known former first daughter, and...

Richard H. Stuart (R) P.O. Box 1146 Montross 22520 804-493-8892 Fax: 804-493-8897 district28@sov.state.va.us Charles J. Colgan (D) 10677 Aviation Lane Manassas 20110 703-368-0300 Fax: 703-257-2856 district29@sov.state.va.us Linda T. "Toddy" Puller (D) P.O. Box 73 Mount Vernon 22121 703-765-1150 Fax: 703-765-9243 district36@sov.state.va.us George L. Barker (D) P.O. Box 10527 Alexandria 22310 703-303-1426 district39@sov.state.va.us

You repeated a common error by stating in your Nov. 8 lead editorial, "Small steps on climate change," that the Senate "refused to ratify" the Kyoto Protocol, which set targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Nobody asked it to. Before the protocol was finalized, in July 1997, the Senate resolved by a 95 to 0 vote that the United States should not sign any agreement that omitted binding targets for developing countries or that would seriously harm the U.S. economy. Although the United States signed the protocol more than a year later, in November...

Steven Pearlstein has done a great public service by calling attention to the undemocratic ways of the U.S. Senate ["Want real reform? Let's start with Congress," Economy & Business , Nov. 11]. It is time for the Senate to get back to majority rule and stop caving to the threat of a filibuster. As Mr. Pearlstein points out, the "wholesale disregard for majority rule" violates the U.S. Constitution, which "expressly delineates a limited number of instances in which anything other than a majority vote is required.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins are sticking with goaltender Tomas Vokoun for Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against Ottawa on Tuesday. The 36-year-old Vokoun replaced struggling starter Marc-Andre Fleury and won Games 5 and 6 of Pittsburgh's first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders last week. He stopped 66 of the 69 shots he faced against the Islanders as the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time in three years.

A Senate panel took up amendments to a comprehensive immigration bill Tuesday and was expected to consider a proposal aimed at tightening the monitoring of foreign students in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. The measure , offered by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), would require the Department of Homeland Security to transfer all student visa information to border control agents at ports of entry. Aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is overseeing the amendment...

DOVER, Del. — The state Senate has approved a bill standardizing the school choice process in Delaware. The bill received unanimous Senate approval with little discussion Tuesday, one week after a similar unanimous vote in the House. It now goes to Gov. Jack Markell. School choice allows students to attend schools other than the ones they would attend under regular attendance policies. Currently, school districts have their own criteria...

The House and Senate this week are considering legislation that would cut federal farm and food subsidies. A look at the bills: OVERALL COST: Both five-year bills would cost about $100 billion annually, with almost $80 billion of that annual total going to domestic food aid. The Senate bill would save about $2.4 billion yearly from current spending, and the House bill would save around $3.8 billion, including about $600 million saved in each bill...

WASHINGTON — The Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday approved a massive five-year farm bill that would cut spending while also creating new subsidies for farmers. The legislation approved 15-5 includes concessions to Southern rice and peanut farmers, thanks to a new top Republican on the committee, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. The bill eliminates $5 billion in annual subsidies, called direct payments, that are important to those Southern farmers but makes it...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Senate voted Monday to make same-sex marriage legal, the last legislative step before Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton's promised signature will make the state the 12th in the nation to do so. The Senate vote of 37-30 came four days after the House passed the bill on a 75-59 vote. A cheer erupted in the chamber after the vote was announced, and spectators in a small gallery area stood and applauded. Minnesota will become the first state in the Midwest to make...

WASHINGTON -- It's going to take a little longer for the last congressional committee writing health care legislation to finish its work. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana had hoped for a final vote by his panel on Tuesday, but a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office isn't ready yet. Committee aides say Wednesday would be the earliest Finance members can vote. The $900-billion, 10-year measure would expand health insurance coverage, impose new taxes and fees, and make major changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

Richard H. Stuart (R) P.O. Box 1146 Montross 22520 804-493-8892 Fax: 804-493-8897 district28@sov.state.va.us Charles J. Colgan (D) 10677 Aviation Lane Manassas 20110 703-368-0300 Fax: 703-257-2856 district29@sov.state.va.us Linda T. Toddy Puller (D) P.O. Box 73 Mount Vernon 22121 703-765-1150 Fax: 703-765-9243 district36@sov.state.va.us George L. Barker (D) P.O. Box 10527 Alexandria 22310 703-303-1426 ...

WASHINGTON — Citing problems exposed by the Boston Marathon bombings, senators weighing amendments to a sweeping immigration bill agreed Tuesday to boost security provisions around student visas. The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed by voice vote to an amendment by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa meant to ensure that border patrol agents at U.S. ports of entry have access to information on the status of student visas. The committee action follows recent revelations that a student from...

I don't have a dog in the Senate fight in Massachusetts between 18-term Rep. Ed Markey (D) and Republican Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL. But if energy policy matters to voters up there, they should hold Markey accountable for not adapting to new realities that have emerged since he came to Congress in the 1970s. In particular, Markey has been one of Congress's most vocal advocates for the wrong-headed idea of limiting U.S. exports of natural gas. A decade ago, U.S. companies were preparing...