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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Sunday said that if Democrats vote to advance a House-passed continuing resolution, he will offer as a substitute another stopgap spending measure with a later expiration date combined with three full-year appropriations bills, known as a minibus. Thune told reporters that the Senate will vote Sunday afternoon on a proposal to open the government, after not holding any votes Saturday afternoon. The text of the legislation is expected to be released early Sunday afternoon. It is expected to include the regular appropriations bills funding military construction, veterans affairs, the Department of Agriculture and...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is set to hold a vote Friday with an eye toward ending the government shutdown. The GOP leader told lawmakers over a conference lunch that he will hold another vote on the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) that has failed to advance 14 times so far. This time, however, Thune is putting it on the floor with an eye toward amending it to attach a three-bill spending package — known as a minibus — that has been part of negotiations with Democrats, one Senate GOP aide said

The House of Representatives approved a “minibus” spending bill on Wednesday to avert a partial government shutdown this weekend — despite opposition from conservative Republicans. The $467.5 billion package was supported by 207 Democrats and 132 Republicans and keeps funding levels roughly the same through Sept. 30 for the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development and Justice, as well as military construction. Senate and House appropriators released the 1,050-page bill on Sunday afternoon, with Republicans celebrating the domestic spending levels as a budget cut for federal agencies like the FBI and Democrats touting the protection...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Twelve Big Wins for Gun Owners   Friday, November 18, 2011   The final conference report on the combined Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science (CJS) and Transportation/Housing/Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bills—also known as the “Mini-Bus,” was passed by both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate,  and has been signed into law.  One of the most important ways that Congress has protected the Second Amendment is through a number of general provisions included in various appropriations bills.  Many of these provisions have been included in the bills for many years—some of the...

SNIPPET: "At least 41 people have been killed in a bomb blast in a crowded area of the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say. More than 100 people have also been injured, a regional minister said. Officials and witnesses said a vehicle laden with explosives had been detonated and destroyed near the city's Khyber Bazaar. Friday's explosion was the latest in a series of recent bombings across north-western Pakistan. It comes as the Pakistani army prepares an operation against the Taliban in the tribal region of South Waziristan. TV footage showed what appeared to be the charred frame of...

Police Dogs Find Bomb-Packed Bus in Turkish Garage September 11, 2007 ANKARA, Turkey — Sniffer dogs discovered a bomb-laden vehicle parked in an Ankara garage, as police have increased security measures in Turkey fearing attacks timed to Sept. 11, the governor of Ankara said. Gov. Kemal Onal said a large amount of explosives were found stashed in a minibus, which had a fake license plate. "A possible disaster has been prevented," Onal told reporters at the site. Explosive experts defused the bomb, Police Chief Ercument Yilmaz said, adding that the type of the explosives would be announced later. Police had...

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mini-bus Monday afternoon in northern Baghdad, setting the vehicle ablaze and leaving burnt bodies, police said. The attacker struck in the Shiite neighborhood of Kadhamiyah, which has been regularly targeted by Sunni Muslim extremists intent on fanning sectarian strife among Iraq's religious groups. It was not clear how many people were killed in the attack, police added