By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
A spate of Democratic lawmakers are using March Madness to raise some campaign funds as the NCAA men's basketball tournament arrives in the nation's capital.
The leader of Syria's main opposition group sought to allay Western fears Thursday that terrorists have infiltrated the rebel movement in the war-torn nation, as U.S. officials touted a new plan to ship meals and medical supplies — but not weapons — to those fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
The U.S. and several European allies reportedly are warming to the idea of shipping nonmilitary aid to rebels fighting in Syria, but one top Democratic lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would go further by authorizing arms transfers to those fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Despite the biting divide between Republicans and Democrats on almost all other fronts, two key House lawmakers announced a bipartisan bill Wednesday to boost sanctions on Iran, trying to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Lying is no big deal. It's just something that we Americans have to live with.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted blame Wednesday for the death of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, but repeatedly deflected criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the attack and its aftermath.
Israel is bracing for one of the greatest diplomatic challenges since its founding — a Palestinian bid for U.N. membership that has galvanized the Jewish state's adversaries and left it searching for friends.
As House leaders prepare to roll out a massive six-year highway funding bill, among the many interests watching with anticipation are a handful of businesses that have pressed for a requirement that could take them from cottage industry to multimillion-dollar market overnight.
Congress moved Wednesday to stop scammers who use fake caller IDs to trick people into revealing Social Security and credit card numbers and other vital information.
Riding a late White House push and driven by impassioned pleas by children of illegal immigrants, House Democrats on Wednesday night forced through a bill that would legalize hundreds of thousands of children and young adults brought here illegally by their parents.
In a stinging rebuke to one of Capitol Hill's most powerful lawmakers, a bipartisan House panel Tuesday found Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat, guilty of 11 of 13 ethics-violation charges, including using congressional staff and stationery to solicit donations.
Fighting crime
Without more aggressively supporting the "moderate opposition" in Syria, "we leave the field to pro-Iran and pro-al Qaeda forces to determine Syria's fate," said Mr. Engel, who co-sponsored the House resolution on March 21 with Rep. Mike Rogers, Michigan Republican and the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
"I hope that China will not do what it's done in the past and agree to sanctions and then just erode those sanctions so the sanctions never really took hold," Mr. Engel, who has visited North Korea twice, said at a committee hearing Tuesday.
China, U.S. push for tougher N. Korea sanctions; threat to resume war is denounced →
