WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican lawmakers on Tuesday opened the door to a national debate about gun control following the Connecticut school massacre, a small sign of easing in Washington’s reluctance to seriously consider new federal weapons restrictions.

Republican members of the House of Representatives, where the party holds a majority of seats, discussed the killings in their weekly closed-door conference meeting and said afterward there was more willingness now to talk about regulating weapons.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic gun-rights advocates on Monday joined the growing number of lawmakers in their party who have started to call for limits on assault weapons, a sign that the Connecticut school massacre could be the “tipping point” to revive the gun control debate in Washington,

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Virginia Senator Mark Warner, both Democrats who have earned top marks from the powerful National Rifle Association, said they would now be open to more regulation of military-style rifles like the one used to kill 20 young children and six adults on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A growing number of lawmakers – including a leading pro-gun senator – called on Monday for a look at curbing assault weapons like the one used in a massacre at a Connecticut grade school, a sign that attitudes toward gun control could be shifting.

Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative West Virginia Democrat who has earned top marks from the gun industry, said Congress and weapons makers should come together on a “sensible, reasonable approach” to curbing rifles like the one used in the killings Friday of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A growing number of U.S. lawmakers – including a leading pro-gun senator – called on Monday for a look at curbing assault weapons like the one used in a massacre at a Connecticut grade school, a sign that attitudes toward gun control could be shifting.

Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative West Virginia Democrat who has earned top marks from the gun industry, said Congress and weapons makers should come together on a “sensible, reasonable approach” to curbing rifles like the one used in the killings Friday of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate intelligence committee approved a report on Thursday that the panel’s chairwoman said included “startling details” about counter-terrorism practices used by the CIA under former President George W. Bush.

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine was the sole Republican who supported the move, joining the panel’s eight Democrats in a 9-6 vote. Republicans had largely boycotted the three-year investigation, saying it contained inaccuracies and faulting Democrats for calling too few witnesses.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Democrat Joe Lieberman used his last speech on the U.S. Senate floor on Wednesday to call for bipartisanship and get in a last dig over the controversial result of the 2000 election, when he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Lieberman, 70, announced in January 2011 that he would retire when his fourth term ends next month rather than seek re-election. He reflected on his career in remarks that lasted for about 20 minutes, recounting landmarks in his career and changes in society since he became a U.S. senator in January 1989.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If James Bond can reinvent himself for a post-Cold War world, U.S. foreign aid should be able to as well, said Howard Berman, a U.S. lawmaker from California who on Wednesday proposed a sweeping overhaul of the system for doling out assistance.

In one of the last actions of his 15-term House of Representatives career, the liberal Democrat unveiled a 923-page bill to replace the old foreign aid law passed in 1961, around the height of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) – While some bemoan the slow
pace of talks on the “fiscal cliff” and the lack of specifics
offered in the negotiations, one seasoned deficit hawk in
Washington, North Dakota Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, thinks
it’s the only way to get the job done.

If Congress moved too fast and proposals got too specific
too soon, interest groups would kill everything off, he said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice failed on Wednesday to win over Republicans opposing her possible candidacy for U.S. secretary of state, and more senators – including a one-time supporter – questioned statements she made after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in September.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins met with Rice for over an hour and said afterward she could not back Rice for secretary of state, if she were nominated by President Barack Obama, without more information.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Susan Collins met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Wednesday and afterward said she could not support her for secretary of state without more information.

Other Republicans have threatened to block Rice’s nomination if President Barack Obama picks her to replace Hillary Clinton, which would require Senate confirmation.