Wire Politics

If the House bill were to become law, some changes in the way health insurance would work in the United States would result. Here's a look at what the bill does:

With a personal push from President Barack Obama, the House of Representatives Saturday inched closer to passing historic health care legislation that would guarantee virtually all Americans access to care.

President Barack Obama is attending a memorial service at Fort Hood on Tuesday and now won't get to his planned first stop in Asia next week until one day later than expected.

President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month, administration and military officials have told McClatchy Newspapers.

Nuclear impasses with Iran and North Korea are the dominant issues for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on her trip to Europe and Asia, which begins with a stopover in Germany to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall.

Text of President Barack Obama's remarks Saturday at the White House on health care legislation:

President Barack Obama's health care initiative has cleared its first big hurdle in the House, with lawmakers voting to advance the debate.

Amputations. Combat stress. Divorce. Suicide. For troubled service members, military therapists are at their sides.

In a private meeting on Capitol Hill and from the presidential podium in the Rose Garden, President Barack Obama on Saturday pressed for House passage of a health overhaul bill and told lawmakers "to rise to this moment" and "answer the call of history."

Democrats gave the gavel Saturday to the longest-serving House member ever as the chamber began debating legislation overhauling the country's health care system.

Oh, how the tables have turned. Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.

Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13 at the time of the attack.

The House has opened debate on President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul that would extend insurance to tens of millions of Americans and enact dramatic changes to the country's medical system.

President Barack Obama summoned Democrats to "answer the call of history" Saturday as the House pushed toward a vote on a landmark health care bill holding out the promise of coverage for tens of millions who lack it.

The killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, by an Army psychiatrist who also was a Muslim set off a rancorous debate Friday that once again spotlighted the fear among Muslims in America that they'll be collectively found guilty for the actions of one man.

Finally, Gen. Casimir Pulaski became an American citizen on Friday, 230 years after the Polish nobleman died fighting for the as yet-unborn United States.

Opponents of opening Cuba to American tourists are touting a letter signed by 53 Democrats in the House of Representatives, saying it shows that they have the votes to derail an effort to lift the ban on travel to the island.

Democrats in the House of Representatives struggled Friday to find enough votes to pass sweeping health care legislation, as lawmakers prepared for an all-day debate and perhaps a final vote on the bill Saturday.

President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the Ford Hood shootings, an attack he described as "all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable" because it occurred on the nation's largest Army post.

President Barack Obama spent nearly two hours visiting wounded U.S. soldiers Friday afternoon.

A pair of military briefings to members of Congress about the Fort Hood rampage resulted in confusion and conflicting information late Friday on the number of wounded.

He was by turns caring and contentious, a man quick to say "I am blessed" in casual greeting yet one who seemed to stew in discontent that he could not always keep to himself.

As bad as Friday's jobs report was, showing October's unemployment rate jumping sharply to 10.2 percent, the outlook is likely to worsen for American workers well into next year. Economists expect the jobless rate to keep climbing, perhaps above 11 percent, as employers produce more with fewer workers and shy away from hiring.

The cousin of the suspected Fort Hood shooter says family members have met with the FBI and answered all their questions.

The House approved legislation Friday aimed at making chemical and water treatment facilities less vulnerable to terrorist attack.

A 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting was purchased legally by suspect Nidal Hasan at a Texas gun shop, law enforcement officials said Friday.

The Obama administration intends to seek resolution to a lawsuit filed by American Indian farmers who alleged discrimination in the granting of federal agricultural loans over three decades.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank took a dig Friday at the Republican lawmaker who organized a protest by conservatives against health care legislation.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will lead a U.S. delegation to Germany for next week's 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the White House said Friday.