(CBS News) House Republicans introduced a framework today to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) after a week of steady pressure from Senate Democrats who tried to paint Republicans as anti-women.

VAWA was signed into law in 1994 in an effort to curb acts of stalking, rape and domestic violence against women. The law also ensured law enforcement personnel and treatment centers had resources to help victims.

Senate Democrats are considering a bill that would expand protections to Native Americans, gays, lesbians and undocumented immigrants as well.

House Republican women held a news conference today on Capitol Hill to show that Republicans have their own plan for extending the law.

The GOP bill would increase penalties for stalkers who target minors and the elderly by adding five years to a perpetrator's prison sentence. It would also provide funding to clear the backlog of untested rape kits that lawmakers say is as high as 400,000.

Continue »

(CBS News) United States Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has told members of Congress that he expects more resignations from agents involved in the Colombian prostitution scandal by the end of the week, according to a congressional staffer with knowledge of the investigation.

One day after Sullivan announced that three agents involved, including two supervisors, would be leaving the service, investigation of the remaining eight agents continues.

Polygraph tests have been conducted on the agents allegedly involved all week and will continue today and tomorrow. If they fail those tests, the agents would lose their security clearance which would bar them from the Secret Service completely. For the agents who do pass the tests, according to aides, Sullivan has said that the service is taking all the appropriate steps so they can make personnel decisions based on the law, but that ethics and standards are very important to the agency and the agents' actions reflect poorly on them all. According to Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the agents are all also undergoing drug testing.

Source: Ousted Secret Service agent plans to sue
Report: Colombian escort talks of encounter with Secret Service

Continue »

Updated 3 p.m. ET

(CBS News) House Speaker John Boehner finally got into the 2012 presidential race today, saying he will be "proud to support Mitt Romney and do everything I can to help him win."

In response to a question from CBS News as to whether the speaker would finally endorse Romney, Boehner said that "it's clear now that Mitt Romney is going to be our nominee."

He added that as chairman of the GOP convention, he had not wanted to endorse before now to give the candidates a "fair process and a fair opportunity."

Continue »

In a move of bipartisanship, the Senate passed today a two-year extension of programs that fund the nation's highways, public transit and infrastructure. The $109 billion bill passed with the support of 74 Senators and just 22 voting against the extension.

As the Senate advanced the measure, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called on the House to pass the bill before the current highway bill expires at the end of this month.

"That could lead to the laying off, termination, of well more than a million people," Reid said on the Senate Floor right before the vote. "This bill, when signed by the president, will save or create 2.8 million jobs. It's important we get this done."

The Senate version streamlines transportation programs by cutting and consolidating them by more than two-thirds. It would give states more control over how to use federal transportation funds and it also provides funding for mass transit. The bill would also offer additional grant money to states that make it more difficult for teenagers to get a full driver's license by prohibiting teens from night driving and using mobile devices except in emergencies.

Continue »

Welcome to another the latest installment of Hot Ads of the Week -- the latest and greatest ads from around the country. This week we feature a selection of ads in the campaign for president, for the Senate, for the House and last but not least, a governor's race with a bit of history thrown in.

Ron Paul attacks the field

After speculation that Ron Paul was secretly teaming with rival Mitt Romney in the GOP primary, Paul's campaign is up with an ad in Washington State that hits Romney, as well as regular targets Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Over pictures of Gingrich, the narrator says: "one is a serial hypocrite who lobbied for Freddie Mac before the housing crisis and for the individual mandate before Obamacare."

Enter Santorum: "Another counterfeit conservative who opposes right to work, massively increased spending and funded planned parenthood."

And then Romney: "Finally, a flip-flopper who's been on all sides, supported bailouts, and provided the blueprint for Obamacare, says the announcer."

Over pictures of all three: three men, one vision, more big government, more mandates, less freedom, the ad says.

Then the ad changes its tone to positive, with the announcer saying, "One man stands apart, ready to deliver real change voting against every tax increase and every unbalanced budget, every time." Then, over video of Ron Paul speaking to a enthusiastic rally, the announcer drives home the message -- "Pro-life, pro-liberty, guided by faith and principle, Ron Paul, the one who will restore America now."

The ad is unique in that it hits all three opponents equally and not just attacking the front runner at the time.

Continue »

Ron Paul uses Bigfoot to call Santorum fake

Welcome to Hot Ads of the week - the latest on the wacky, the wild, the bizarre, the negative, the seldom positive and the most unique campaign ads from the world of politics. Check them out on these pages and then vote for your favorite at the end.

We start today with an ad that made a big splash at Wednesday night's debate where Ron Paul called Rick Santorum a fake.

For most of the campaign, Texas Congressman Ron Paul has been winning hearts of viewers with his creatively hard hitting attack ads aimed at his Republican opponents. He is now turning his focus to Rick Santorum in this ad which takes on Santorum's record as a fiscal conservative.

"Is this dude serious?" asks the announcer with an arrow pointing to a cut out of Santorum. "Fiscal conservative? Really?"

With creative graphics reminiscent of a viral web video, (anyone remember jib jab?) -- Paul's ad goes right at Santorum with tiny fine print backing up each claim with vote records and laws.

"Santorum voted to raise the debt ceiling five times, doubled the size of the department of education," says the announcer over a the video of a large bloated man's belly. "Then supported the biggest entitlement expansion since the 60s," it adds. The announcer doesn't say what - but fine print points to the Medicare "Prescription Drug Act" that expanded prescription drug coverage for seniors, and the video shows the Santorum cutout standing with stacks of paper and the number "$727 Billion" splashed across the screen. "Not groovy" says the announcer over Santorum's head floating over a 60s style tie-dyed background.

"Santorum voted to send billions of our tax dollars to dictators in North Korea and Egypt, and even hooked planned parenthood up with a few million bucks. Rick Santorum, a fiscal conservative? FAKE," says the announcer over a picture of big foot holding a sign that simply says "fake."

Paul has been known for his support among young people and his ads are only helping him. This ad is fresh and entertaining and is definitely not the traditional campaign attack ad.

Continue »

House Democrats on Thursday sought to capitalize on the controversy surrounding the government's role in providing contraception to women, holding a high-profile discussion on the matter and asking supporters for money as soon as the talk was over.

Led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats held a pretend hearing while Congress is not in session to listen to the views of a third-year Georgetown Law student and activist who was not allowed to attend a Republican run hearing on the matter last week.

Continue »

Welcome to Hot Ads of the week - the latest on the wacky, the wild, the bizarre, the negative, the seldom positive and the most unique campaign ads from the world of politics.

(At left, Robert Hendin and Jill Jackson discuss the ads.)

We start this week with the Republican Presidential campaign. As the frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battle it out ahead of the Michigan primary, both candidates are hitting the airwaves with positive and negative ads.

The following pages have these ads and much more.

Continue »

The House and Senate are set to act on a deal that extends the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance as early as tomorrow. Congressional negotiators signed off on the $150 billion package today that would extend the program and tax cut through the end of the year.

The deal also tackles other pending issues in need of resolution: It prevents doctors who treat seniors on Medicare from seeing a nearly 30 percent pay cut from the federal government at the end of this month.

"At the end of the day, we're ahead of our deadline and we got something done in a bipartisan-bicameral way" said negotiator Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) on his way into an ornate room off the House floor to officially sign the agreement.

The leaders of the conference committee, Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), smiled broadly and even joined hands and raised them in the air as if they'd just won a boxing match as they watched members come to sign off on the agreement.

Continue »

Negotiators working to strike a deal to extend the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits that expire at the end of this month are nearing a final agreement, according to aides and lawmakers with knowledge of the talks.

Both sides have scored key concessions from the other party, and a final deal could be reached as soon as Wednesday, senior aides familiar with the talks told CBS News. Democrats forced Republicans to drop their demand that the payroll tax break be offset, allowing $100 billion to be added to the deficit, while the GOP won concessions on unemployment insurance.

The maximum number of weeks an unemployed worker would be able receive benefits would gradually be shortened by 20 weeks and states would be allowed to require drug testing for those receiving the benefits. Most states would eventually have 63-weeks maximum, but it would depend on that state's unemployment rate.

Continue »