People walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington March 4, 2013.

WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:26pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group in the House of Representatives is close to completing work on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would include a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, according to congressional aides.

Two of the aides confirmed on Friday that the negotiators were still trying to agree on the issue of how to handle temporary laborers coming into the United States.

House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, was briefed on Friday on the legislation, which congressional aides described as being nearly complete. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi received a briefing on Thursday, said one senior Democratic aide.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said: "The speaker had a good talk with the Republicans in the bipartisan immigration reform group. They've made real progress on a tough issue." He said the group would continue to work on the measure.

Boehner's office would not comment on details of the bipartisan group's work.

The back-to-back briefings for Pelosi and Boehner were "to let them know they were close to a finished product," said one House aide with knowledge of the issue.

In the Senate, a bipartisan group also neared completion of its own broad immigration bill, said senators and Senate aides.

Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto, a lobbyist for the AFL-CIO labor federation, said, "We're confident that a deal is going to be reached."

Leading senators have said the goal is to introduce a bill by early April. If things go as planned, the legislation could be ready for Senate floor debate by June or July.

Proponents in the House hope to pass their version of a bill this year.

A comprehensive reform bill, if it comes together, would aim to further toughen border security, deal with the millions living illegally in the United States and develop a way to streamline the future legal flow of immigrants, including temporary workers.

Prospects for legislation got a major boost last November, when Hispanic-Americans voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Democratic President Barack Obama.

The election results jolted Republicans, many of whom had taken a hard-line stance against any immigration reforms other than securing the southwestern border with Mexico and luring more skilled workers from abroad for U.S. high-tech firms facing labor shortages.

Although most Republicans say they now want to see some sort of immigration bill enacted this year, many are still hesitant about, or opposed, to giving 11 million illegal immigrants a special pathway to citizenship, arguing that would reward them for breaking the law and encourage a new wave of illegal border crossings.

TOUGHEST CHALLENGE

Among the toughest issues the group of eight senators has wrestled with, more so even than a path toward citizenship, involves maids, waitresses and other low-paid foreign workers.

The group, which includes Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is trying to create a system allowing businesses to hire more low-skilled workers to fill shortages, but only after they show that they cannot find Americans to take the jobs.

In the past two weeks, the senators have submitted proposals to the AFL-CIO, the biggest labor group, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business group. But those two groups remain deeply divided.

Talks "have been difficult," Randel Johnson, the chamber's senior vice president of labor and immigration, told reporters on Friday. "What is the overall cap of the (temporary visa) program is an issue," he said.

The chamber wants 400,000 visas a year. The AFL-CIO wants to cap visas in "very low five figures," said Johnson.

The chamber and the AFL-CIO had agreed that a new temporary worker program, which unions previously opposed on grounds it exploits workers, would eventually let some of the immigrants earn U.S. citizenship.

Johnson could not say how many of the temporary workers would be allowed to earn citizenship, except to say they would have to meet certain criteria such as having no criminal record.

That also is the case for the 11 million undocumented people in the United States, according to the Senate initiative outlined in late January.

Under the Senate measure, they would have to have clean criminal records, pay back taxes and a penalty and learn to speak English. In practice, it could take up to 15 years for someone to earn citizenship. But they would not live under the threat of deportation.

The group has discussed creation of a commission, perhaps within the Labor Department, to oversee the annual admission of low-skilled foreign workers. It would consider factors including the jobless rate in specific sectors, such as those that employ hotel and restaurant workers.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks from the briefing room of the White House in Washington February 5, 2013.

WASHINGTON | Sun Feb 17, 2013 5:55pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is drafting a backup immigration reform plan in case a bipartisan congressional committee working on a bill fails, an Obama Administration official said on Sunday, though a key Republican said the president's plan would be "dead on arrival" on Capitol Hill.

White House Chief of staff Denis McDonough said the administration hoped that bipartisan efforts would deliver a broadly acceptable package, but wanted a plan B.

"We're doing exactly what the president said we would do last month ... which is we're preparing. We're going to be ready," he said on ABC's "This Week' program, confirming a published report on Saturday disclosing the White House effort.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are anxious to tackle immigration reform, after the increasingly influential Latino vote turned out heavily in favor of President Barack Obama and his Democrats in the November 2012 election.

USA Today said on Saturday that a draft of a White House immigration proposal would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.

The plan, obtained by the newspaper, also would provide for more security funding and require businesses to check the immigration status of new hires within four years.

McDonough gave no details of White House's plan, but said it was important that immigration reform passed this year and made clear the administration hoped bipartisan efforts on Capitol Hill bore fruit.

"So let's make sure they get this thing done, and they're up there working on it right now. We have to make progress on immigration reform, we should enact it this year and the president will continue to work with the team to make sure that happens."

Obama emphasized in last week's State of the Union address the importance of creating a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally. Many Republicans stress that the nation's borders must be secured first.

Latinos favored Obama over Republican Mitt Romney in the November 6 election by 71 percent to 27 percent, helping tilt politically divided states to the Democratic incumbent.

Republicans want to show Latinos they understand their concerns on immigration, but must also be mindful of conservative members of their own party who worry about encouraging even more illegal immigration in the future.

Senator Marco Rubio, the key Republican on the issue and one of the eight senators on the committee crafting the legislation, dismissed the White House draft as a seriously flawed rehash of failed immigration policies that would make the country's immigration problems worse.

"If actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come," Rubio, who is a Cuban-American from Florida, said in a statement on Saturday.

SECURE BORDERS FIRST

According to USA Today, illegal immigrants could also apply for a newly created "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa, under the White House's draft bill. If approved, they could apply for the same provisional legal status for spouses or children living outside the country, according to the draft.

Conservative Republicans like Senator Rand Paul want borders to be first secured before they can endorse any immigration reform.

"I will support it on one condition: That we have a report that says the borders are being secured ... (it has to be) a report and comes back and is voted on in Congress," Paul said on "Fox News Sunday."

"I won't do it on a promise from President Obama, that he will secure the borders," Paul, from Kentucky, added.

Paul Ryan, the Republican vice president candidate in last year's elections, suggested the White House plan was leaked intentionally.

"By putting these details out ... that tells us he is looking for partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution. This particular move is counter productive," Ryan said on ABC's "This Week" program.

A White House official denied it was leaked.

"This was not the administration floating anything. ... We were surprised to learn what appeared to be draft language had been given to the press, thought it was unfortunate, and reached out to senate offices on both sides of the aisle on Saturday evening to make that clear."

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Steve Holland and Paul Simao; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (R) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) speak to the media on the ''fiscal cliff'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 21, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 18, 2013 6:37pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives backed away on Friday from a fiscal clash with President Barack Obama next month that could have risked a government default and chaos in financial markets, shifting to a new, less aggressive stance.

Top Republican leaders, meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, said they were prepared to allow the U.S. government to borrow enough money to keep it fully operating for the next three months without demanding immediate spending cuts from Obama.

Instead, the Republicans, who control the House, will require as part of the legislation raising the debt ceiling that the Democratic-led Senate pass a budget plan by April 15.

If the Senate fails to act, they said, members of Congress would not get paid. How that might work in practice, in light of existing budget law and constitutional restrictions on changing congressional salaries in the middle of a term, was unclear. House Republicans hope to pass the legislation next week.

Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, made the announcement after an annual retreat at a resort in Williamsburg, where members listened to pollsters describe the party's decline in standing among American voters.

It followed a humiliating defeat in the "fiscal cliff" battle that ended on New Year's Day with Obama getting tax increases he sought on the wealthy without committing to significant budget cuts Republicans were seeking in return.

World equity and oil prices rebounded after the statement by the Republican leaders.

STRATEGIC SHIFT

The announcement marked a major climbdown for Republicans, who have seen the debt ceiling as their strongest point of leverage in Washington's partisan spending wars, despite the consternation it caused the White House, global financial markets and public opinion.

The White House on Friday welcomed the three-month extension plan as long as it was not conditioned on spending cuts. Obama has argued that negotiations on spending cuts should be part of larger deficit reduction talks, and not be tied to the debt ceiling.

"We are encouraged that there are signs that Congressional Republicans may back off their insistence on holding our economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and programs middle class families depend on," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also said the Republican approach was reassuring.

"If the House can pass a clean debt ceiling increase to avoid default and allow the United States to meet its existing obligations, we will be happy to consider it," he said in a statement.

A spokesman for House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was less receptive. "This proposal does not relieve the uncertainty faced by small businesses, the markets and the middle class. This is a gimmick unworthy of the challenges we face and the national debate," Drew Hammill said.

The details on the new Republican approach appeared less pressing to party leaders than defusing the politically and economically explosive debt ceiling battle that was expected in late February and early March.

The Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise the current $16.4 trillion U.S. debt limit sometime between mid-February and early March. How long a debt ceiling lasts - a few months or a few years - depends on the amount of borrowing authorized.

Republicans had promised to use the occasion to demand deep spending cuts from Obama and his Democrats, and some had said they were willing to push the government to the brink of default if their demands were not met.

That sort of rhetoric all but vanished on Friday.

"Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget," Cantor said in a statement.

"Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay."

The statement made no mention of the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that no law "varying the compensation" of members of Congress shall take effect until after an intervening congressional election.

The plan aims to draw the Senate into action to shrink deficits. The Senate has failed to pass a formal budget resolution in nearly four years, and it has taken no action on House-passed Republican budgets.

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate's Republican minority leader, said in a statement he welcomed the pressure on his Democratic counterparts who had "prevented this body from performing its most basic of duties: passing a federal budget."

RETREAT REFLECTION

A key theme to emerge at the Williamsburg conference was a willingness to pursue more incremental steps on deficit reduction. Rather than one massive deal, each fiscal deadline would represent an opportunity to find savings.

After the deadline for a debt ceiling increase, Congress faces a March 1 deadline to avert automatic spending cuts, and the March 27 expiration of funding for government agencies and programs. A three-month debt limit extension would add a further deadline in April or May.

Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, one of the House's most conservative budget hawks, said he had concluded that smaller steps were the best path forward in dealing with the immediate fiscal crisis.

Instead of passing regular budgets to try to reduce spending, Congress has relied largely on stop-gap spending measures, known as continuing resolutions, to keep the government running.

Senate leaders have said there was no need to pass a budget for the past two fiscal years because the last major budget deal in 2011 set spending levels that were more legally enforceable.

A House Republican leadership aide said it was not anticipated the three-month debt limit legislation would include spending cuts.

Although Boehner previously sought at least $1 in long-term spending cuts for every dollar of debt limit increase, the aide said the reforms associated with requiring budgets from both chambers would meet the speaker's requirements.

(Editing by Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

View the original article here

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (R) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) speak to the media on the ''fiscal cliff'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 21, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 18, 2013 6:37pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives backed away on Friday from a fiscal clash with President Barack Obama next month that could have risked a government default and chaos in financial markets, shifting to a new, less aggressive stance.

Top Republican leaders, meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, said they were prepared to allow the U.S. government to borrow enough money to keep it fully operating for the next three months without demanding immediate spending cuts from Obama.

Instead, the Republicans, who control the House, will require as part of the legislation raising the debt ceiling that the Democratic-led Senate pass a budget plan by April 15.

If the Senate fails to act, they said, members of Congress would not get paid. How that might work in practice, in light of existing budget law and constitutional restrictions on changing congressional salaries in the middle of a term, was unclear. House Republicans hope to pass the legislation next week.

Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, made the announcement after an annual retreat at a resort in Williamsburg, where members listened to pollsters describe the party's decline in standing among American voters.

It followed a humiliating defeat in the "fiscal cliff" battle that ended on New Year's Day with Obama getting tax increases he sought on the wealthy without committing to significant budget cuts Republicans were seeking in return.

World equity and oil prices rebounded after the statement by the Republican leaders.

STRATEGIC SHIFT

The announcement marked a major climbdown for Republicans, who have seen the debt ceiling as their strongest point of leverage in Washington's partisan spending wars, despite the consternation it caused the White House, global financial markets and public opinion.

The White House on Friday welcomed the three-month extension plan as long as it was not conditioned on spending cuts. Obama has argued that negotiations on spending cuts should be part of larger deficit reduction talks, and not be tied to the debt ceiling.

"We are encouraged that there are signs that Congressional Republicans may back off their insistence on holding our economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and programs middle class families depend on," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also said the Republican approach was reassuring.

"If the House can pass a clean debt ceiling increase to avoid default and allow the United States to meet its existing obligations, we will be happy to consider it," he said in a statement.

A spokesman for House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was less receptive. "This proposal does not relieve the uncertainty faced by small businesses, the markets and the middle class. This is a gimmick unworthy of the challenges we face and the national debate," Drew Hammill said.

The details on the new Republican approach appeared less pressing to party leaders than defusing the politically and economically explosive debt ceiling battle that was expected in late February and early March.

The Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise the current $16.4 trillion U.S. debt limit sometime between mid-February and early March. How long a debt ceiling lasts - a few months or a few years - depends on the amount of borrowing authorized.

Republicans had promised to use the occasion to demand deep spending cuts from Obama and his Democrats, and some had said they were willing to push the government to the brink of default if their demands were not met.

That sort of rhetoric all but vanished on Friday.

"Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget," Cantor said in a statement.

"Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay."

The statement made no mention of the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that no law "varying the compensation" of members of Congress shall take effect until after an intervening congressional election.

The plan aims to draw the Senate into action to shrink deficits. The Senate has failed to pass a formal budget resolution in nearly four years, and it has taken no action on House-passed Republican budgets.

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate's Republican minority leader, said in a statement he welcomed the pressure on his Democratic counterparts who had "prevented this body from performing its most basic of duties: passing a federal budget."

RETREAT REFLECTION

A key theme to emerge at the Williamsburg conference was a willingness to pursue more incremental steps on deficit reduction. Rather than one massive deal, each fiscal deadline would represent an opportunity to find savings.

After the deadline for a debt ceiling increase, Congress faces a March 1 deadline to avert automatic spending cuts, and the March 27 expiration of funding for government agencies and programs. A three-month debt limit extension would add a further deadline in April or May.

Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, one of the House's most conservative budget hawks, said he had concluded that smaller steps were the best path forward in dealing with the immediate fiscal crisis.

Instead of passing regular budgets to try to reduce spending, Congress has relied largely on stop-gap spending measures, known as continuing resolutions, to keep the government running.

Senate leaders have said there was no need to pass a budget for the past two fiscal years because the last major budget deal in 2011 set spending levels that were more legally enforceable.

A House Republican leadership aide said it was not anticipated the three-month debt limit legislation would include spending cuts.

Although Boehner previously sought at least $1 in long-term spending cuts for every dollar of debt limit increase, the aide said the reforms associated with requiring budgets from both chambers would meet the speaker's requirements.

(Editing by Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

View the original article here

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) arrives to speak to the media on the ''fiscal cliff'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 21, 2012.

WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 2, 2013 8:08pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner abruptly reversed course on Wednesday and set a timetable to approve $60 billion in Superstorm Sandy relief, after fellow Republicans including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie heaped scorn on his cancellation of an earlier vote.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will now vote on Friday on a $9 billion down payment for storm-related support to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Boehner also assured New York and New Jersey lawmakers that the House will take a second vote on January 15 on the $51 billion remainder of the Sandy disaster aid package approved last week in the U.S. Senate.

"This procedure that was laid out is fully acceptable and fully satisfactory. It provides the full $60 billion that we require," said Representative Peter King, a high-ranking House Republican from Long Island, New York.

Earlier, King had condemned Boehner's adjournment of the House before the Sandy vote, saying on the House floor the inaction was "a knife in the back."

Sandy, the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, devastated the northeastern United States on October 29, smashing New York and New Jersey coastal communities.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, seen as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, said the vote's cancellation reflected the "toxic internal politics" of House Republicans.

"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent (storm) victims - the House majority and the speaker, John Boehner," Christie told a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey.

"It is why the American people hate Congress," he added.

Christie tried to telephone Boehner four times after 11:20 p.m, when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told him the vote was canceled. The speaker declined to take his calls, the governor said.

President Barack Obama also made a last-minute overture to Republicans to pass the plan and spoke to both Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo by telephone.

Angry New York and New Jersey lawmakers said the House delay marked a stark contrast to congressional reaction to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Then, a Republican-controlled Congress swiftly approved $62.3 billion in aid just 10 days after the storm devastated the Gulf Coast.

Local officials in battered coastal Long Island communities complained on Wednesday that they could not launch rebuilding projects without knowing aid funds were on the way.

Recreation and senior centers are closed and boardwalks splintered in Long Beach, New York, where $250 million in estimated repair costs far exceed the city's $88 million annual budget.

"We need Congress to pass the bill. That's how we're going to rebuild," said Long Beach spokesman Gordon Tepper.

After reversing course on Wednesday afternoon, Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a joint statement: "Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress, and that was reaffirmed today with members of the New York and New Jersey delegations."

NOT A GOOD TIME

Boehner had called off the vote on aid after the House passed a budget deal.

But critics complained Boehner should have allowed the House to give final approval to the Senate-passed Sandy rescue package before the current Congress officially ended on Thursday, causing all pending legislation to expire.

Explaining the adjournment without a vote, a Boehner aide said it "was not a good time" to vote on $60 billion in relief spending as Congress dealt with the broad tax measure, which had few spending cuts.

With Boehner facing an internal House Republican leadership re-election on Thursday after a majority of his party members voted against the "fiscal cliff" deal, some Republican lawmakers said a massive, $60-billion spending bill would have been too much to handle.

"It was a horrendous day with some horrific votes that a lot of our conference was very unhappy with," said Michael Grimm, a Republican from hard-hit Staten Island, New York.

Grimm and other New York and New Jersey Republican congressmen said they were satisfied with Boehner's new plan and would support his bid for another term as House speaker.

Even King said late in the day that his earlier vitriol "seems like a lifetime ago."

SHRINKAGE RISKS

But the new plan could still see some Republicans trying to shrink the aid package, as the $51 billion portion may be split into two parts - one for initial needs and another for longer-term projects. Fewer Republicans are likely to support the longer-term funds, but Democrats gained eight seats in the new Congress in November's elections.

Many House Republicans had complained that the Sandy aid bill was loaded with spending on projects unrelated to storm damage or long-term projects that needed more scrutiny.

Among expenditures criticized in the Senate plan were $150 million to rebuild fisheries, including those in the Gulf Coast and Alaska, and $2 million to repair roof damage at the Smithsonian Institution buildings in Washington that pre-dates the storm.

(Reporting By David Lawder, Ian Simpson, Jeff Mason, Hilary Russ and Tom Ferraro; writing by Ian Simpson; editing by Todd Eastham and Philip Barbara)

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WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:19pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm-state lawmakers have agreed to a one-year extension of the expiring U.S. farm law that, if enacted, would head off a possible doubling of retail milk prices to $7 or more a gallon in early 2013.

The extension would end a 32-month attempt to update farm subsidies dating from the Depression era, when farmers were crushed by low prices and huge crop surpluses, to meet today's high-wire challenges of tight food supplies, high operating costs and volatile markets.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, said on Sunday he hoped the legislation would be passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama by Tuesday to avoid higher prices for milk in grocery stores.

The bill was listed among measures that could be called for a vote on Monday in the House of Representatives although action was not guaranteed.

Despite consensus on the need to extend the farm bill, lawmakers continue to discuss how long the extension should be.

Representative Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, told reporters late on Sunday a nine-month farm bill extension was being considered as part of deal being crafted in the Senate to stave off the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that begin kicking in on January 1.

"There's good chance that if there is a package out of the Senate, it will include something on the farm bill. The easiest thing to get done would be nine months of current law," Cole said.

A second Republican, Representative Steven LaTourette, said a nine-month extension could be part of the fiscal cliff package or could move separately if the fiscal talks fail.

House Republican leaders refused to call a vote during the fall on a full-scale, $500 billion farm bill on grounds it might fail because it did not cut spending enough.

Grain, soybean and cotton growers would get another round of the $5 billion "direct payment" subsidy that all sides agreed to kill in a new farm bill. The payments are made regardless of need. Reformers say the payments are unjustified when crop prices and farm income are at near-record levels.

DISASTER MONEY AND A NEW DAIRY PROGRAM

Also in the extension, lawmakers would revive agricultural disaster-relief programs that ran out of money a year ago and create a new dairy subsidy program. It would compensate dairy farmers whenever milk prices are low and feed prices are high. The so-called margin protection program would require farmers to limit production to avert a long run of low dairy prices.

Traditionally, the dairy program sets a minimum price for milk through government purchase of butter, cheese and dry milk. If Congress does not act, the dairy support price will revert on Tuesday to the level dictated by an outmoded 1949 law and which is roughly double the price now paid to farmers.

The potential retail milk price has been estimated at $6 to $8 a gallon versus current levels near $3.50.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, during an interview broadcast by CNN, said higher milk prices - if it comes to that - would ripple throughout all commodities "if this thing goes on for an extended period of time."

Senator Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the "responsible short-term farm bill extension ... not only stops milk prices from spiking, but also prevents eventual damage to our entire agriculture economy."

TWO FALLBACKS IF EXTENSION FALTERS

House Republican leaders readied two alternatives, if needed, to the one-year extension. One was a one-month extension of the now-expired 2008 farm law without disaster funds or the new dairy program and the other was a one-month suspension of the dairy provisions of the 1949 law.

It was not clear which bill would be called for debate, a farm lobbyist said on Sunday. A small-farm activist said any package passed by Congress must include rural economic development funds and money for soil conservation on "working lands," the largest of USDA's conservation programs.

"If a new farm bill doesn't pass this Congress, we'll soon hold another mark-up and just keep working until one is enacted next year," said Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat.

It would be the first time on record that Congress began drafting a farm bill during a two-year session and had to carry it into the following session, congressional researchers said. Hearings on the new farm bill began April 21, 2010.

HOUSE, SENATE DISPUTE ON BIG CUTS

While dairy producers generally support the so-called margin-protection program as the answer to high feed costs, processors and foodmakers oppose it. They say it is wrong-minded in its premise of curtailing production when prices are low, and it will destroy a healthy export market for dairy products.

The rejuvenated disaster programs would cover losses from this year's widespread drought, especially for livestock producers, although tree farmers, honey bees and farm-raised fish are also covered. Maximum payment would be $100,000.

Senators passed a farm bill in June estimated to save $23 billion over 10 years, with most of the cuts in crop subsidies and conservation programs. The House Agriculture Committee approved a bill with $35 billion in cuts in July, half of it in food stamps for the poor - the biggest cut in food stamps in a generation.

Fiscally conservative House Republicans have called for larger cuts in farm subsidies and food stamps while some House Democrats opposed any food stamp cuts.

(Additional reporting by Charles Abbott, David Lawder and Richard Cowan; Editing by Ros Krasny, Maureen Bavdek, Jan Paschal and Eric Walsh)

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WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:05pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday came to the defense of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel against critics who have attacked his record on Israel and Iran in a bid to head off his possible nomination as President Barack Obama's next Pentagon chief.

With Hagel considered a leading choice for defense secretary, the administration joined allies rallying to support him against the onslaught, led by some pro-Israel groups and neo-conservatives, but also including former colleagues on Capitol Hill.

It was the second time since Obama's re-election last month that the White House has found itself forced to defend a Cabinet candidate who has yet to be nominated for anything, a source of frustration for the president's advisers.

Obama's aides have been preparing for a realignment of his national security team, possibly by Friday, sources familiar with the process have said. But with Obama focused on the "fiscal cliff" standoff and the Hagel controversy also fueling concerns, an announcement could easily be delayed.

Some American Jewish leaders contend Hagel, who left the Senate in 2008, at times opposed Israel's interests, voting several times against U.S. sanctions on Iran, and made disparaging remarks about the influence of what he called a "Jewish lobby" in Washington.

White House spokesman Jay Carney made clear Obama's faith in the former lawmaker, who is a decorated Vietnam war veteran.

"Senator Hagel fought and bled for his country. He served his country well. He was an excellent senator," Carney said, without acknowledging that Hagel was under consideration to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He did not address any of the specific criticisms aimed at Hagel.

The controversy over Hagel's possible nomination comes after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew from consideration for secretary of state last week amid withering attacks from Republicans over her role in initial explanations of the deadly September assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

"We've been through this before with Ambassador Rice where there's an effort to go after somebody," Carney said.

The drumbeat of criticism against Hagel could prompt Obama to reconsider whether it would be worth the likely Senate confirmation battle. But the White House has given no sign of dropping him the president's short list.

Obama himself has been criticized by some Jewish leaders for his approach to close U.S. ally Israel, especially given his strained relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

BATTLE LINES DRAWN

Some of the attacks on Hagel stem from comments he made to former U.S. diplomat Aaron David Miller for his 2008 book, "The Much Too Promised Land," in which Hagel was quoted as saying, "The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here."

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said earlier this week that Hagel would "have to answer for that comment" if he is nominated.

William Kristol of the conservative Weekly Standard wrote in a recent column that Hagel "has anti-Israel, pro-appeasement-of-Iran bona fides."

Hagel's supporters have started firing back, insisting he has shown himself supportive of Israel and tough on Iran.

"His views are strong, solid on American foreign policy. I'm amazed at the turnout of the neo-cons and so on," Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser under President George H.W. Bush, told Reuters.

He was referring to the neo-conservatives, a loose group of right-wing foreign policy thinkers who gained ascendancy during the tenure of Obama's Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.

And Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal American Jewish group, denounced what he said was a "smear campaign" against Hagel.

Democratic presidents have sometimes turned to Republicans to fill key national security posts. Former President Bill Clinton chose former Senator William Cohen to lead the Defense Department, and Obama kept Robert Gates, former President George W. Bush's last defense secretary, on board for part of his term.

QUESTIONS ON CUBA

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio's office said he also would have questions about Hagel's record on Cuba, and raised the possibility of putting a hold on his nomination. Hagel has voiced doubts about the wisdom and effectiveness of maintaining the decades-old U.S. trade embargo on communist Cuba.

"Promoting democracy in Latin America is a priority for Senator Rubio, and he's put holds on other administration nominees over the issue," said Rubio spokesman Alex Conant.

"If President Obama were to nominate Senator Hagel for a cabinet position, I'm sure we would have questions about Cuba positions." Rubio is Cuban-American.

Adding to the sense of battle lines drawn, Hagel's critics and allies are circulating dueling fact-sheets on Capitol Hill.

Many Republicans consider Hagel suspect. He was an early dissenter on the Iraq war - an issue that helped Obama rise to prominence - and crossed the aisle to endorse the president in his successful re-election bid this year.

Since leaving the Senate after two terms, he has also been a vocal critic of his own party's fiscal policies.

Obama is said to feel comfortable with Hagel. The two traveled together to the Middle East during the 2008 campaign. Hagel currently co-chairs Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Warren Strobel; editing by Todd Eastham)

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LAS VEGAS | Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:26am EST

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A seven-term U.S. congresswoman from Nevada, Shelley Berkley, violated ethics rules by using her office to try to help her husband's medical practice but had no "corrupt intent" in doing so, the U.S. House Ethics Committee said on Thursday.

The committee said no further action was needed against the Democratic member of the House of Representatives. It had launched a probe in July into allegations Berkley may have been improperly involved in a bid to help save a hospital program linked to her husband's business.

Berkley's husband, Larry Lehrner, is a kidney specialist who owns a string of dialysis facilities and had a contract with the transplant unit at University Medical Center in Las Vegas when it was threatened with closure.

Nevada Republicans asserted in their initial complaint to Congress that Berkley would have directly benefited financially from her involvement in the 2008 case due to her husband's links to the hospital's kidney center.

Berkley, who failed in November to unseat Nevada Republican Dean Heller from his U.S. Senate seat in a narrow race, has said her effort to help keep the center open when it was facing federal action that could have resulted in its closure was not motivated by a potential financial interest.

She said she did nothing wrong.

A House Ethics panel agreed that her work to help the transplant center did not constitute a violation, but said that it was a mistake for her office to assist her husband's dialysis business in getting payment reimbursements.

"Representative Berkley had a legitimate concern, raised at the time that these issues were ongoing, that failures on the part of government insurers to reimburse providers in a timely fashion might result in the providers opting not to see patients insured by those programs," the Ethics Committee said in a statement.

It added that Berkley testified credibly that she had not helped her husband to obtain future benefits, and that the level of assistance her office provided him was not unusual compared to that given to other doctors.

But the panel ruled that she was mistaken when she determined her course of action was proper, although her lack of "any corrupt intent" mitigates the severity of the violations.

Heller, who had been a member of the House at the time, also joined in the Nevada delegation's efforts to keep the government from closing the kidney unit.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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LONDON | Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:55pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Scandinavian DJ group Swedish House Mafia piped Adele's Bond movie song "Skyfall" to the top of the singles chart this week, while London-based folk band Mumford And Sons nudged up one place to number one in a tumultuous week in the album chart.

The Official Charts Company on Sunday said Swedish House Mafia's "Don't You Worry Child" had outsold Skyfall 43,000 copies to secure their fifth singles chart top 10 hit and first number one.

X-Factor talent show winner Leona Lewis was the only other new entry in the top 10, with "Trouble" featuring Childish Gambino, her ninth top 10 hit.

Mumford And Sons dominated the albums chart with their second full-length release, "Babel", while second place went to Ellie Goulding with "Halcyon".

U.S. pop punks All Time Low went straight in at number nine this week with "Don't Panic", but Birmingham rockers ELO with "Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra" were one step ahead at number eight.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas)

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