Congress returns to unfinished business

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress went back to work Monday, with senators facing major unfinished business, including financial reform and extension of unemployment benefits.

The lawmakers returned from a weeklong recess.

There's Senate action on Elena Kagan's nomination to the U.S. Supreme court. Also, there are debates on campaign finance legislation, food safety rules and a defense authorization bill that, among other things, would end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays openly serving in the military, The Washington Post reported.

The list could grow: The Senate, sensing public outrage over the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, may revive the climate-change debate, the newspaper said. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid is working on legislation that would expand alternative energy incentives and overhaul offshore drilling standards. It would require BP to assume full liability for damages caused by the spill, which began with an explosion on an oil rig April 20.

Senate Democrats should overcome one hurdle soon in passage of two pieces of legislation, the Post said. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, is expected to appoint a Democratic interim senator to fill the vacancy left by the death of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, giving Reid the 60th vote he needs to pass the Wall Street legislation and the unemployment benefits extension.

Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said the energy bill could be one positive note for Democrats -- if an emissions cap is removed and the focus is on alternative energy development and gulf-related provisions, the Post said.

"It's going to come down to a big decision, a bill that can pass versus a bill that can't pass," Stewart said. "But if this month looks like last month, they're going to get Kagan and not a whole lot more."