WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Democratic healthcare reform proposals "fall short" in bringing down costs for U.S. families and small businesses, a Republican Party leader said Saturday.

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Wednesday defeated an amendment that would have allowed concealed weapons to be carried across state lines without regard to local laws.

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- A measure that would let gun owners carry weapons across state lines could threaten the filibuster-proof edge Democrats have in the U.S. Senate, observers note.

WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Sunday that presumptive Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama has not acknowledged any successes in Iraq.

WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a bit of tit-for-tat, so far won't say whether he'd support Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president.

WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is rehabilitating his image among U.S. senators looking to avoid GOP defeats this fall, The Hill political paper says.

WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- An informal survey of the 97 U.S senators not in the race for the presidency found more than 20 of them would consider the No. 2 spot for their party's ticket.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., was hospitalized in Washington Wednesday, but his office said he did not suffer a stroke or a heart attack, as earlier thought.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune said Tuesday that the Bush administration still expects victory in Iraq. Thune, who will be a minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the next Congress, told MSNBC that the alternative to winning i