House fails to give speedy passage to bill establishing greater food safety oversight

October 14th, 2009 STORY REMOVED: US--Regional Airlines-SafetyWASHINGTON — The Associated Press has withdrawn its story that the House has passed a bill to toughen regulations on pilot training, qualifications and work schedules in response to accidents involving regional airlines. The vote on the bill has not been completed.

September 2nd, 2009 Brazil Senate passes speedy Internet divorce billBRASILIA, Brazil — The Brazilian Senate has approved a bill that would allow consensual divorces to be filed and resolved on the Internet. The Senate's official news agency says the bill would speed divorce proceedings, allowing couples to split without lawyers or having to wait in line in court.

August 5th, 2009 Administration sees gap in rail transit oversightWASHINGTON — There's virtually no federal safety oversight of subways, light rail and other urban train systems and the Obama administration wants to change that, a transportation official said Tuesday. Peter Rogoff, the new head of the Federal Transit Administration, said his agency is prohibited by law from establishing any national safety standards, conducting federal inspections or requiring specific operating practices for the local and regional transit agencies that provide more than 3 billion passenger trips by rail a year.

July 31st, 2009 House passes far-reaching food safety billWASHINGTON — The House has passed a far-reaching food safety bill requiring more government inspections and imposing new penalties on those who violate the law, reacting strongly to an outbreak of salmonella in peanuts that killed at least nine people. The legislation would require greater oversight of food manufacturers and give the Food and Drug Administration new authority to order recalls.

July 29th, 2009 Food safety bill defeated in HouseWASHINGTON — The House defeated a far-reaching food safety bill Wednesday after farm-state lawmakers complained it would be too invasive and others said it was pushed to the floor too quickly. The legislation, which would require more government inspections and oversight of food manufacturers in the wake of a massive salmonella outbreak in peanuts, was considered under a suspension of House rules and needed a two-thirds vote for passage.

July 8th, 2009 White House threatens to veto intelligence billWASHINGTON — The White House is threatening to veto a bill that would require the president to dramatically increase the number of lawmakers who must be notified about covert CIA activities. The annual intelligence authorization bill the House will consider Thursday contains a provision that would require the president to inform more than 40 members of Congress — rather than eight members currently — about secret actions taken overseas to influence events in other countries.

July 1st, 2009 Arizona House rejects immigration enforcement billPHOENIX — The Arizona House has defeated a bill that would have made it the only state in the nation to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants by expanding its trespassing law. The House voted 26-15 for the bill to expand Arizona's trespassing law Wednesday morning, but that was five votes short of the 31 needed for passage.

June 27th, 2009 Obama: Energy bill is bold stepWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling House passage of an energy bill "a bold and necessary step.' And he says it holds promise for creating new industries and millions of new jobs. Obama says that the bill will reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and decrease the release of pollutants that lead to global warming.

June 25th, 2009 Obama: Now is time to pass climate change billWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is pressing again for passage of legislation that would confront the problem of global warming head-on. Speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House, Obama said Washington must not miss the opportunity to work on cleaning the air and at the same time creating new "green" energy jobs.

June 22nd, 2009 Obama to sign tobacco bill on MondayWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is to sign the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The law allows the Food and Drug Administration to reduce nicotine in tobacco products, ban candy flavorings and block labels such as "low tar" and "light." The bill, to be signed Monday during a Rose Garden event, also requires tobacco companies to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings and reveal what chemicals they put into their products.

June 12th, 2009 Obama: Tobacco bill 'defines change' in WashingtonWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says a bill giving the government much greater power to regulate tobacco "truly defines change in Washington." The president spoke in the Rose Garden just minutes after the House passed the bill overwhelmingly. The Senate approved the legislation on Thursday.

June 3rd, 2009 FDA looking abroad to boost food, drug safetyTOKYO — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded offices around the world and heightened contacts with counterpart agencies in order to improve product safety for Americans at home, a senior agency official said Wednesday.

May 8th, 2009 Budget would boost flu preparations, food safetyWASHINGTON — With the swine flu still claiming victims, President Barack Obama's 2010 budget would devote an additional $584 million to pandemic flu preparation efforts. That's on top of $1.5 billion Obama requested from Congress for this year when the flu first emerged.

April 30th, 2009 Senate defeats anti-foreclosure billWASHINGTON — With President Barack Obama on the sidelines, the Senate defeated his promise of a bankruptcy court refuge for hundreds of thousands of families about to lose their homes to foreclosure. The Senate voted 45-51 against the legislation, which would have let debt-ridden homeowners seek mortgage relief in bankruptcy court.

January 24th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's alma mater, Panjab University, Sunday wished him speedy recovery after his coronary bypass surgery in New Delhi. The Syndicate, the highest decision-making body of the university here, passed a unanimous resolution at its meeting here Sunday, praying for the speedy recovery of the prime minister, an alumnus of the university.