AP - Dean Barkley — lawyer, political kingmaker, and bus driver — has spent 62 days in the U.S. Senate, which he calls "the most prestigious club on earth."

AP - Seeking to blunt GOP efforts to permit oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, House Democrats Thursday pressed legislation they say would spur drilling on already available lands in Alaska, the West and the western Gulf of Mexico.

AP - A man wanted by Liechtenstein for leaking secret bank records that identified millionaire tax cheats told lawmakers on Thursday about elaborate sham transactions and code words used to outsmart the IRS.

AP - A plan emerging in Congress would require government approval of executives' pay at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a federal lifeline for the mortgage companies.

AP - The House on Wednesday approved extending federal "wild and scenic" environmental protection to the lower Taunton River in Massachusetts, dealing a blow to developers who want to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on an urbanized stretch of riverbank.

AP - The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.