WASHINGTON

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PLEDGE VOTE BY FALL ON SOCIAL SECURITY

After months of nervous poll-watching, Republican leaders announced Wednesday the House would vote by fall on legislation to establish individual accounts under Social Security.

“This is not too far too fast. … This is a step we can take right now” to modernize the Depression-era program, said Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, the third-ranking GOP leader. Democrats have blocked passage of more sweeping changes sought by President Bush, and they swiftly attacked the new version. “Once again, the Republican majority is pushing a risky privatization scheme that will weaken Social Security, cut benefits, and increase the debt,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid. Mr. Blunt, Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican of Illinois, and other Republicans said the changes in Social Security would be incorporated into a broader measure relating to pensions and other retirement issues, with a vote possible in July or September.

– Associated Press

SENATE VOTES TO BOOST VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE

The Senate voted yesterday to spend an extra $1.5 billion on veterans’ health care this year as the Bush administration agreed to ask Congress for more money to cover a politically embarrassing shortfall. The 96-0 vote was a response to the Veterans Affairs Department’s announcement last week that its health-care costs had risen faster than expected, forcing the agency to shift money among accounts to cover the shortage.

Just Tuesday, the department had insisted it could deal with the shortage without asking for more dollars.

The administration’s request also came after demands from Democrats that majority Republicans take care of veterans who are returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This is just the latest example of how poorly the administration planned for and prepared this nation for what would be required in Iraq and the war on terror,” said the Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, of Nevada.

The administration’s request to lawmakers could come today. The veterans affairs secretary, Jim Nicholson, was to appear on Capitol Hill to give Congress a more precise accounting of health-care needs.

– Associated Press

SECOND CASE OF MAD COW DISEASE TRACED TO TEXAS

The latest confirmed case of mad cow disease in America has been traced to a beef cow born in Texas 12 years ago and slaughtered last November at a pet-food plant, Agriculture Department officials said yesterday. It was the first time the disease has been confirmed in an American-born cow.

The other American case, confirmed in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a dairy cow imported from Canada. The department’s chief veterinarian, John Clifford, said the new case was identified and linked to the herd in Texas through DNA testing. He said the herd had been quarantined and that none of the infected animal’s carcass entered the food or animal feed chains.

– Associated Press

U.S. CAPITOL, WHITE HOUSE BRIEFLY EVACUATED

Police briefly ordered evacuation of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, and President Bush was moved from his residence to a safer location last night when a private plane ventured into restricted airspace. The all-clear came within minutes – well before the White House was fully evacuated.

The White House briefly went to red alert – its highest level, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.

A private turboprop entered restricted airspace northeast of Reagan National Airport, according to a federal aviation official. Jets scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base and intercepted the plane eight miles northeast of the Capitol. As of 6:45 p.m. EST, the fighters had escorted the plane to Winchester, Va., where it landed without incident.

The aircraft could be heard overhead at the Capitol, in an area customarily closed to air traffic. Senator Harkin, a Democrat of Iowa, said Capitol Police notified senators’ offices: “This is an emergency message … Capitol Police are tracking unidentified aircraft.”

– Associated Press

WEST

JURY: MAN WHO MURDERED NINE OF HIS CHILDREN SHOULD BE EXECUTED

FRESNO, Calif. – A jury decided yesterday that Marcus Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a large clan he bred through incest, should get the death penalty for the murders of nine of his children. Wesson, 58, was convicted earlier this month, more than a year after the bodies were found in a bloody pile at his home at the end of a police standoff.

All the victims – ages 1 to 25 – had been shot once in the eye. Wesson had fathered some of them with his own daughters and nieces. Prosecutors said he had the children killed for fear authorities were about to break the clan up and take the youngsters away. The standoff began after two Wesson nieces who had escaped from the home went back to try to get their children. His lawyer contended Wesson’s eldest daughter shot the others, then committed suicide.

In pleading for a life sentence, defense attorney Pete Jones said executing Wesson would not “undo the harm done.” He also noted that the jury, in its guilty verdict, found that the prosecution failed to prove that Wesson pulled the trigger. But prosecutor Lisa Gamoian said that does not matter – Wesson orchestrated the killings. She called Wesson a “master manipulator” whose sexual, financial, and emotional exploitation of his children culminated in their slayings.

– Associated Press

POLL: MOST VOTERS DON’T WANT SCHWARZENEGGER RE-ELECTED

A majority of California voters does not want to see Governor Schwarzenegger re-elected, according to the latest poll showing the Republican’s political appeal sliding.

The nonpartisan Field Poll of registered voters found that just 39% said they were inclined to give Mr. Schwarzenegger a second term, while 57% were not. As recently as February, the numbers were almost reversed, with 56 percent saying they were inclined to re-elect Mr. Schwarzenegger while just 42% were not.

A series of polls released by Field researchers indicates Mr. Schwarzenegger has lost considerable ground among voters in recent months. The drop in the governor’s popularity has coincided with his push for a fall special election for voters to consider several ballot measures aimed at curbing the power of Democrats and public-employee unions in state government. Earlier installments of the poll have shown that Mr. Schwarzenegger’s job approval ratings have tumbled amid voter skepticism about the special election and tepid support for his ballot measures. Mr. Schwarzenegger has repeatedly said he would favor negotiating an agreement with legislators over the ballot measures that could avert a contentious showdown in the fall. Still, the findings released yesterday show that Mr. Schwarzenegger has fallen out of favor with almost every major demographic group.

– Associated Press