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Politics

Stem cell bill goes back to Bush, who vows veto

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - The House gave final congressional approval on Thursday to legislation aimed at easing restrictions on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research, but Democratic leaders in both chambers conceded they were short of the votes needed to override a veto threatened by President Bush.

On a vote of 247-176, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill, with more than three dozen Republicans joining a Democratic-led effort to authorize federal support for research using stem cells from spare embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard. The Senate approved the legislation in April.

Minutes after the vote, Bush renewed his pledge to veto the proposal, which he called "a recycled old bill." It would reprise the first veto of his presidency, which occurred last year when he rejected a similar bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress.

How representatives from the bay area voted:

- Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor: No

- Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville: Yes

- Adam Putnam, R-Bartow: No

- C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores: Yes

- Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota: No

- Kathy Castor, D-Tampa: Yes

Also Thursday

SEN. TED STEVENS has hired lawyers and been instructed by the FBI to preserve records relevant to a federal investigation into corruption in Alaska, the Washington Post reported Thursday. As part of a larger inquiry, federal agents are investigating the remodeling of the Republican's Alaska home in 2000. The investigation is linked to the VECO Corp. bribery case that last month produced guilty pleas from two of the oil-field service company's top executives, officials said.

PASSPORTS: The Bush administration is poised to suspend a major post-9/11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose vacations are threatened by passport rules. A proposal, expected to be announced today, will temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. citizens have passports to fly to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, provided the traveler can prove he or she has already applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

TERROR SUSPECTS: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would allow terrorism suspects access to federal courts to challenge their imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Information from the New York Times and the Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified June 8, 2007, 01:45:19]