Members of the U.S. House and Senate will return to Washington on Nov. 13 for a post-election "lame duck" session of Congress, hoping to pass key measures before adjourning for the holidays and the year. Vying for congressional attention is a spate of bills of interest to the biomedical research community, including legislation related to stem cell research, incentives for conducting biodefense research, and increased penalties for animal rights terrorism. Any bill not enacted by year's end will have to be reintroduced when the 110th session of Congress convenes next year with Democrats controlling the House for the first time since 1994, and likely the Senate for the first time since 2002, depending on the outcome of the contest in Virginia. "It's a formidable agenda of things [the lawmakers] want to act on during the lame duck session," said David Moore, vice president for government relations at the Association of...

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