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Poll: Low approval greets new Congress

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The 111th Congress sworn in Tuesday not only faces a sour economy but also soured public opinion, results of a Gallup Poll indicate.

In Gallup's most recent survey based on interviews in December, the final month of the 110th Congress, a scant 20 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress handles its job. For all of 2008, the congressional approval rating averaged only 19 percent.

The current low ratings for Congress are down from the averages of 27 percent in 2007 and 25 percent in 2006, Gallup said.

Twenty-four percent of Democrats in Gallup's December poll approved of the job Congress is doing while 18 percent of both Republicans and independents did.

Earlier in the decade, congressional ratings were higher, including a 56 percent average in 2001 and a 54 percent average in 2002, partially reflecting the positive way Americans viewed governmental institutions after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Princeton, N.J., polling firm said.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews Dec. 4-7, 2008, with 1,009 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Senate turns Burris away at door

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris Tuesday was turned away at the door as he tried to claim the open U.S. Senate seat for Illinois.

Burris, 71, arrived on Capitol Hill in a bid to take the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama but was turned away.

"I presented my credentials to the secretary of the Senate and was advised I would not be accepted, I would not be seated, I would not be allowed on the senate floor," Burris told reporters afterward.

The Senate leadership is using Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's refusal to certify Burris's appointment as the basis for rejecting him.

"I will now consult my attorneys and we will determine what my next step will be," Burris pledged.

Burris, who came out of political retirement to claim the Senate seat, told reporters on the steps of the Capitol he was looking at a host of options.

Burris attorney Timothy Wright III called the Senate action "improper."

"It is against the law of the land," Wright said.

The appointment is controversial because Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is under investigation for allegedly trying to sell Obama's seat to the higher bidder, among other allegations. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said no one appointed by Blagojevich would be acceptable to the body.

Earlier in the day, Burris said in an interview on the CBS "Early Show," White's refusal to certify him isn't fair since White certified Blagojevich's decision to call a special election to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by Obama Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel.

Meanwhile, a state House panel determining whether to impeach Blagojevich subpoenaed Burris to appear before it Wednesday. During a news conference at Chicago's Midway Airport before he left for Washington, Burris said he had scheduled a meeting with congressional leaders for Wednesday and was trying to arrange to travel to the Illinois statehouse on another date, possibly Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Burris said he sent the panel an affidavit in response to their subpoena, sought by Republican members who said he needed to explain how he got the appointment.

Blagojevich impeachment panel delayed

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Illinois state lawmakers say they have delayed their timetable for the impeachment process of embattled Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

U.S. District Judge James Holderman has approved the release of four wiretapped recordings of Blagojevich's conversations to an Illinois House of Representatives impeachment panel. But Holderman also scheduled a hearing on the matter for Thursday, pushing back a hoped-for Wednesday deadline for the panel to make a recommendation, The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., reported.

The secret recordings of the governor made by FBI investigators reportedly reveal Blagojevich talking about trying to wrest campaign contributions from someone who wanted him to sign a bill into law.

Members of the impeachment committee have already have reviewed a secret draft of a possible impeachment report and have suggested changes in the document. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has told all House members to return to Springfield Wednesday prepared to vote on impeaching the governor, the Journal-Register said.

The House isn't scheduled to reconvene until Thursday and it was not certain when an impeachment vote would take place, observers said.

TSA agents say uniforms making them sick

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Hundreds of federal security officers at U.S. airports say they're being sickened by formaldehyde in their new blue uniforms, their union said.

The new uniforms are causing rashes, runny and bloody noses, itchy eyes, dizziness and swollen and cracked lips, said the American Federation of Government Employees, the union which represents the Transportation Security Administration officers.

Union officials say the culprit is the formaldehyde used in permanent-press finish to prevent mildew and stains, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

TSA officials said only a few officers have complained of minor irritations and that tests have confirmed the formaldehyde level is within acceptable government standards, the Post reported.

VF Solutions, the manufacturer, said it has produced 70 million shirts with the same fabric and received no previous complaints.

Icy roads blamed for 3 Ohio deaths

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Freezing rain and sleet played havoc with roads in central Ohio Tuesday, contributing to the deaths of three people in Columbus, officials said.

Police dealt with dozens of accidents Tuesday morning as ice accumulations built up on the city's streets and highways -- so many accidents that investigators in most parts of Columbus had stopped taking non-injury crash reports, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Much of southern Ohio was coated with ice as well, causing numerous traffic accidents and minor injuries, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The Ohio ice storm was part of a weather picture showing the deep U.S. South to New England being on the alert for ice and snow as sleet and rain hit northern Texas and states in the Northwest, forecasters said.

An estimated 48,000 people were without electrical power in northern Texas after ice downed utility lines Monday, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The storm spread ice over Arkansas and western Tennessee with southern Texas through Virginia getting a mixture of ice and heavy rain, Accuweather.com reported.

By midweek, the storm system is forecast to join a weaker system moving across the northern Plains, resulting in a mix of snow and ice over the interior Northeast and New England.

A series of powerful Pacific storms continued to pound the Northwest with snow falling on Seattle and flood warnings posted for western Oregon, Washington State and the Columbia River Gorge.

In Utah, two people were injured Monday night when heavy snow and ice caused a 25-car pileup on the Interstate 15, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.