Congress takes up trade, taxes, abortion

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In the final hours of Republican rule, the Senate on Wednesday put forward an all-purpose bill covering everything from normalized trade with Vietnam and tax breaks for millions of taxpayers to an expansion of offshore oil drilling.

The House, meanwhile, gave conservatives perhaps their last chance for a while to vote on an abortion bill. It was defeated.

As of late Wednesday, negotiators from the two chambers were still struggling to come up with a common approach to a tax and trade package that could bring the 109th session to a close. House Majority Leader John Boehner informed lawmakers that they wouldn't be able to adjourn on Thursday as earlier planned.

With talks on a compromise plan making little headway, Senate Finance Committee leaders introduced their own 500-page bill that would renew expired or expiring tax breaks for businesses and middle income individuals and trade items affecting economic relations with Vietnam, Haiti, Africa and Andean nations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_on_go_co/congress_rdp