In This Issue

• Bush Warns He Would Veto a Combined Spending Package
• Congress Clears Seven-Year Ban on Internet Access Taxes
• Bush Selects Peake as Veterans Affairs Secretary
• Senate Limits Debate on Amtrak Bill
• Nation’s Intelligence Budget Hit $43.5 Billion Last Year

Today in Washington

The House  votes on several measures under suspension of the rules, including a reauthorization of contracting programs at the Small Business Administration, a seven-year extension of the ban on Internet access taxes and a requirement for installation of weather radios in all new mobile homes.

The Senate  continues consideration of a six-year, $11.4 billion Amtrak reauthorization bill.

The President meets with House Republican leaders; later meets with President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni.

In Washington,  Catholic University will host “Crucial Alliance?: The United Kingdom and The United States in 2007,” a lecture presented by British Parliament member Sir Patrick Cormack. 7 p.m., Catholic University, Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center, Great Room, 620 Michigan Ave., N.E.

Top Stories

Bush Warns He Would Veto a Combined Spending Package

President Bush excoriated the Democratic Congress Tuesday for “not getting its work done” and warned that he would veto any fiscal 2008 appropriations package that combines defense and veterans’ spending with domestic funding he considers excessive.  [Read More]

Congress Clears Seven-Year Ban on Internet Access Taxes

The House on Tuesday unanimously passed and sent to the White House a bill that would continue the current moratorium on taxing Internet access for seven more years.  [Read More]

Bush Selects Peake as Veterans Affairs Secretary

President Bush on Tuesday nominated James Peake, a Vietnam veteran and the Army’s former chief doctor, as Veterans Affairs secretary.  [Read More]

Senate Limits Debate on Amtrak Bill

The Senate on Tuesday agreed to limit debate on an $11.4 billion, six-year reauthorization of Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad, after rejecting an amendment that would have cut its money-losing food service contracts.  [Read More]

Nation’s Intelligence Budget Hit $43.5 Billion Last Year

The intelligence budget for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $43.5 billion, according to the nation’s spy chief, who disclosed the long-secret figure Tuesday because of a new law passed by Congress this year.  [Read More]

Political Clippings

The Anchorage Daily News reports that former Veco Corp. chief executive Bill Allen revealed in court Monday that his nephew tried to blackmail him over work done on the home of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. The remodeling and Veco’s role in it is part of a federal investigation into public corruption in Alaska. Stevens has denied wrongdoing and said he paid what he was billed for the renovations. Allen, who has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, was testifying in the public corruption trial of a former state representative.

The Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown, Pa., reports that William T. Russell, a career Army officer and survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon, has moved into Rep. John P. Murtha’s House district to challenge the powerful Democratic lawmaker. Russell, 45, a Republican who left the Army two years short of retirement to run for Congress, told the daily: “I recognize this is an uphill battle. But it’s one that must be fought.” Murtha, 75, a Vietnam veteran, is chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and is legendary for his ability to bring defense money and jobs to the district.

Correction: The Savannah Morning News reported that Georgia Republican Ray McKinney has decided to challenge Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., next year. Barrow currently has $944,892 in campaign funds, and McKinney, a vice president of Continental Field Systems, “hopes to raise $1.5 million for his campaign” to face off against Barrow. Chris Edenfield of Savannah is also seeking the GOP nomination for the seat.

Political Trivia

Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., is the youngest of four children of an executive salesman for Uniroyal and a stay-at-home mother who, in search of a more bucolic life, moved from Bergen County’s rapidly building suburbs to a 100-acre farm in Wantage, where they grew greenhouse tomatoes, Yorkshire pigs and Christmas trees. Garrett’s older brother still raises Christmas trees there. (Source: CQ.com Member Profiles)