Immigration fight returns to Senate this morning

WASHINGTON — The Senate faces another contentious showdown on immigration today when it considers legislation designed to put thousands of illegal-immigrant students on track to U.S. citizenship.

Though far more limited than a comprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate in late June, the proposed DREAM Act will nevertheless resurrect the same warring sides from the earlier immigration battle.

The Senate faces a late-morning vote to take up the measure today, with supporters needing at least 60 votes to move forward with debate. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chief sponsor, acknowledged Tuesday that his side has solid assurances of only about 55 votes but said he hopes to secure commitments from wavering senators.

Known officially as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, the bill would allow illegal immigrant children who have grown up in the United States the opportunity to apply for citizenship if they graduate from high school and get two years of college or serve in the military.

Candidates could be no older than 30 and would have had to have lived in the United States at least five years before passage of the bill. A report released by supporters Tuesday projected that the bill would affect 360,000 undocumented high-school graduates and eventually would benefit 715,000 more youngsters between the ages of 5 and 17.

Navajos seek money for uranium cleanup

Navajo tribal officials asked Congress on Tuesday for at least $500 million to finish cleaning up contamination on the Navajo reservation in the American Southwest from Cold War-era uranium mining, an industry nurtured by its only customer until 1971: the U.S. government.

The tribe also sought a moratorium on new mining in Navajo country, which extends beyond the formal reservation borders into New Mexico, until the environmental damage from the last round is repaired.

The requests came at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform marked by angry exchanges between the members and officials from five federal agencies with varying degrees of responsibility for protecting Navajo health and the environment.

Paulson urges fast fix to minimum-tax law

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned lawmakers Tuesday that delays in enacting a temporary fix to the alternative minimum tax could cause millions of taxpayers to experience delays in receiving their refunds.

In a letter to Congress, Paulson also again warned Congress that failure to pass an AMT fix would expose 21 million mostly unsuspecting taxpayers to the minimum tax — and an average tax increase of $2,000.

The AMT originally was designed to make sure that the wealthiest couldn't use tax breaks or deductions to eliminate their entire tax liability. But the tax doesn't adjust for inflation and so more middle-class taxpayers are ensnared by the AMT each year unless Congress acts.

Campaign funds help Craig pay for lawyers

Sen. Larry Craig tapped nearly $23,000 of his campaign account to pay lawyers who have been advising him since news broke he was arrested in a sex sting, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Over the past three months, Craig spent nearly $23,000 with Stan Brand, the Washington, D.C., lawyer who is helping Craig defend a complaint to the Senate Ethics Committee.

Craig, who has said he has no plans to run for re-election, has $474,666 in his campaign account, according to his FEC report.

FEC rules on tapping campaign contributions to pay legal bills are fairly broad. The money can't be used for personal expenses, but generally, the only requirement is that the spending be related to legal bills connected to an officeholder's role as an elected official.

Seattle Times news services