washington

WASHINGTON - H1N1 has hit the Hill.

The first congressman came down with swine flu this past week. Rep. Greg Walden, a sixth-term Republican from rural Oregon, announced via Twitter that the virus had nailed him.

"Just diagnosed with likely H1N1. Ugh. Off to seclusion for awhile(cq)," the lawmaker, 52, tweeted Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - New digital and mobile technologies could help improve health care and cut costs for patients, but health experts say these services are not often covered by private insurance plans.

WASHINGTON - Nearly six years after environmental inspectors found e-coli contamination in the water systems of commercial airliners, the feds have come up with final rules designed to make onboard drinking water safer.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Lois Capps insists she was trying to keep the focus on health care reform and head off a divisive debate over abortion.

Yet an amendment the California Democrat pushed during the summer is at the center of a heated argument over whether the health reform plans before Congress will permit federally funded abortions.

WASHINGTON - Democrats' health-care reform legislation, which has moved fitfully through Congress, will reach two milestones this week.

The Senate Finance Committee is likely to pass its bill on Tuesday while the Congressional Budget Office reviews House legislation with three variations on a government-run insurance plan.

The backlog for burials at Arlington National Cemetery is growing, and it is partly the result of a policy change to grant full final honors to more of America's fallen.

After town-hall meetings, congressional hearings and a prime-time presidential address on health care reform, many questions remain about the proposals being considered on Capitol Hill.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission intends to allow U.S. nuclear facility security guards to carry "enhanced weapons," aka machine guns and short-barreled shotguns and rifles.

Sen. Barbara Boxer is preparing to introduce climate-change legislation that would significantly alter the course of the nation's energy policy.

Passage of the bill would represent a defining moment -- both for the effort to curb global warming through pollution limits and for Boxer herself as she readies for what could be a tough 2010 re-election bid.

Our elders are already in a bad mood. Their retirement accounts are far from recovered and they've turned out in droves to register their fears about health-care reform.