AFP - The US Senate has passed a resolution demanding that cyclone-devastated Myanmar's military rulers lift restrictions on delivery of foreign relief aid, congressional aides said Thursday.

Reuters - Democrats in the Senate on Wednesday unveiled a new energy package that would revoke $17 billion in tax breaks extended to big oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and slap a 25 percent windfall profits tax on firms that don't invest in new energy sources.

AP - President Bush sent the Senate a new slate of Federal Election Commission nominees Tuesday, an attempt to break a Senate confirmation deadlock that was greeted coolly by the Democratic leader.

Reuters - The White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday moved to break the deadlock at the Federal Election Commission, which had been without a ruling majority in a pivotal campaign year.

AFP - The US Senate has confirmed the appointment of Washington's first envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), calling it a significant move, Congressional aides said Thursday.

AP - The Senate Intelligence Committee moved on Thursday to ban the CIA from using private contractors to interrogate detainees.

AP - Democratic senators accused the Bush administration Tuesday of injecting politics into the Environmental Protection Agency's assessment of health risks from toxic chemicals, citing a congressional investigation that concluded the assessments are being undermined by secrecy and White House involvement.

AP - The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Tuesday to limit CIA interrogators to techniques approved by the military, which would effectively bar them from waterboarding prisoners, congressional officials said.