WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Tuesday establishing a national Internet database designed to let law enforcement and communities know where convicted sex offenders live and work.

The most serious offenders would be registered on the database for their lifetime. All sex offenders could face a felony charge, punishable by 10 years in prison, for failing to update the information.

The bill also increases criminal penalties for child predators, including a mandatory minimum 25-year prison sentence for kidnapping or maiming a child and a 30-year sentence for sex with a child under 12 or for sexually assaulting a child between 13 years old and 17 years old.

The legislation, passed by voice vote, now goes to President Bush for his signature.

Decline in number arrested at border

The number of illegal immigrants caught trying to sneak into the United States has dropped since President Bush ordered the military to help tighten the border, the head of the Border Patrol said Tuesday.

Officials say part of the reason is that fewer people are trying to enter the country because they're discouraged by the increase in efforts against them. Immigrant-rights advocates say the migrants may just be shifting entry points, crossing at more remote and dangerous areas.

Whichever it is, Border Patrol chief David Aguilar reported a 45 percent decline in the number of people arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border, when comparing the 69 days before Bush's mid-May announcement with the 69 days after.

Frist drops plans on estate tax

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he had abandoned plans to attach an estate-tax cut to pension-overhaul legislation, removing one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a compromise on that bill.

Frist had earlier considered the pensions bill as the most likely vehicle for the estate-tax cut, which has passed the House but been thwarted in the Senate when brought up separately. But lawmakers negotiating the pensions legislation warned that inclusion of the estate-tax cut could doom chances for an agreement.

The pension legislation is designed to strengthen the employer-based pension plans that 44 million Americans rely upon for their retirements. Negotiators met again Tuesday without reaching an agreement.

GOP candidate says "R" an impediment

A Republican in a competitive Senate race called his party affiliation "an impediment," said he would "probably not" want President Bush to campaign for him and said the GOP-controlled Congress should "just shut up and get something done."

Michael Steele's campaign confirmed Tuesday that the Maryland lieutenant governor made the comments a day earlier on the condition that reporters only identify him as a GOP Senate candidate.

"It's an impediment. It's a hurdle I have to overcome," Steele, who is running in a Democratic-leaning state, said of his GOP label, according to Tuesday's edition of The Washington Post. "I've got an 'R' here, a scarlet letter."

Also

Guns: The House voted 322-99 Tuesday to prevent law-enforcement officers from confiscating legally owned guns during a national disaster or emergency.

First responders: The House voted 414-2 Tuesday for a bill sponsored by Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., aimed at improving communication among police, firefighters and emergency crews. The bill would require that states and local governments develop communications guidelines among first responders to be eligible for federal homeland-security grants.

Compiled from The Associated Press

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