House tightens rules for lobbyists

WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to make lobbyists disclose when they round up campaign donations for members of Congress and to broaden prohibitions on accepting gifts, meals and travel from lobbyists.

The two bills, which Democrats promised voters last November in reaction to influence-peddling scandals in the Republican-led Congress, did not come easily for party leaders now in the majority. They had to overcome a rebellion by colleagues who said the changes go too far and might hamper their ability to raise campaign funds and land well-paid lobbying jobs when they leave Congress.

The most contentious issue involved requiring lobbyists to disclose a practice known as bundling, in which they solicit and collect donations from several sources on behalf of a candidate. This bill passed 382-37. The practice is popular with many lawmakers, who find it easier than raising money check by check. It is favored, too, by lobbyists who can ingratiate themselves to lawmakers without publicly divulging their role.

The second bill, passed 396-22, would require lobbyists to disclose efforts to insert special projects into spending bills. Lawmakers also would be prohibited from pressuring lobbying firms to hire employees based on political affiliations.

Cardiologist picked as surgeon general

President Bush has picked a Kentucky cardiologist interested in fighting childhood obesity to be the nation's next surgeon general, the White House said Thursday.

Bush nominated Dr. James Holsinger Jr., professor of preventive medicine at the University of Kentucky, to oversee the U.S. Public Health Service. Holsinger has led Kentucky's health-care system, taught at several U.S. medical schools and served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring in 1993 as a major general.

Holsinger has served as Kentucky's secretary for health and family services and chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, and has held numerous academic and administrative appointments.

The previous surgeon general was Dr. Richard Carmona, whose term was allowed to expire last summer.

Clinton outlines her health-care cure

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called Thursday for far-reaching changes to curb rising health-care costs.

"Our health-care system is plagued with underuse, overuse and misuse. It is, simply put, broken," the New York senator said in a speech to George Washington University medical-school students.

At the top of her to-do list: pushing health-insurance companies to pay for preventive health care for diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses, to reduce the likelihood of expensive treatments or surgeries later on.

She repeated her call to expand electronic medical records as a way of reducing paperwork costs and dangerous errors from misread charts. She also wants to bar health-insurance companies from cherry-picking only the healthiest patients, and increase the use of cheap generic prescription drugs as an alternative to more pricey prescriptions.

Hiring probe expands at Justice Department

The Justice Department has broadened an internal investigation examining whether aides to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales improperly took into account political considerations in hiring department employees, officials familiar with the investigation said Thursday.

The expanded investigation, conducted by the department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, follows testimony Wednesday by former Gonzales aide Monica Goodling. She told a House committee that she considered party affiliation when screening applicants.

Seattle Times news services