The bill would bar lobbyists from giving lawmakers and other officials gifts worth more than $75, a limit not significantly different from the current one.

SEPT. 29 - Yeltsin gives lawmakers until Monday to leave Parliament or face "serious consequences."

At least six of the unreported gifts were worth more than the $75 limit that state law sets on perquisites lobbyists may give lawmakers, the commission found.

Charles Clarke, the home secretary, said he would give lawmakers another week to seek "consensus" on extending the detention period.

Connecticut has also borrowed some aspects of a decade-old Maryland law that seeks to restrict the most valuable gift that lobbyists give lawmakers: campaign fund-raising.

They say it is not only unfair to victims and gives short shrift to thoughtful state lawmakers and judges, but it also eliminates an important check on inept federal regulators.

Judging that it is safe to spell out political differences again, the Congressional leaders are giving lawmakers in the House and Senate briefing materials on issues and the party message.

In a concession to Congress, the commission also voted to give lawmakers a year to come up with their own cost reduction alternative before the commission's recommendation takes effect.

But yesterday Condoleezza Rice gave Republican lawmakers what Senator Rick Santorum called "a very upbeat report."