U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole faced two key votes on mileage standards in 2003.

At the time, the U.S. Senate was considering a mammoth energy bill, with debate going on for more than two months. Two of the many proposed amendments to the bill touched on Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars, trucks and SUVs.

At the time, the mileage standards were 27.5 mpg for cars and 20 mpg for SUVs and minivans.

Durbin Amendment: Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, proposed raising mileage standards by specific amounts, including a benchmark of 32 miles per gallon by 2008. The amendment failed 65-32, with Dole voting against it.

On the Senate floor, Durbin argued that the existing standards were causing "more air pollution" and "creating a bigger soup in the atmosphere to heat up our planet Earth."

Bond-Levin Amendment: Sens. Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, and Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, then proposed directing the Secretary of Transportation to raise mileage standards to the "maximum feasible" amount. The amendment passed 66-30, with Dole voting for it.

Arguing for his amendment, Bond said that too-high standards would lead to more dangerous car accidents and said that car buyers favor safety over mileage standards.

In the end, both votes were a moot point, since the Senate energy bill was shelved and never came to a vote.

In an e-mail to Dome today, a Dole staffer said the Durbin standards were "arbitrary" and would have favored foreign automakers.

"The amendment that was rejected would have been unrealistic and have cost thousands of manufacturing jobs," wrote Marty Ryall.

What bipartisan efforts has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole worked on?

At Dome's request, the Salisbury Republican's staffers sent a list of bipartisan efforts that she is most proud of from the past six years:

* Climate Change: Dole co-sponsored a "cap and trade" bill to reduce carbon emissions by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner this session.

* Military Family Leave: Dole co-sponsored a bill by Sen. Hillary Clinton to allow some workers 12-month leaves to care for family members wounded in action.

* Lumbee Recognition: Dole worked with Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, among others, on legislation to recognize the Lumbee tribe.

* Tobacco Quota Buyout: Dole worked with U.S. Reps. McIntyre and Bob Etheridge on a tobacco quota buyout program included in a 2004 jobs bill.

* Catching Fugitives: Dole co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Richard Durbin to give law enforcement agencies help capturing fugitives from the U.S. Marshals.

Dole's staffers also cited her work on 211 expansion with Clinton, creating infrastructure bonds with Sen. Ron Wyden, requiring a White House conference on nutrition with Sen. John Kerry, demanding Iraq fund a greater share of its reconstruction with Sen. Ben Nelson, and amending trade adjustment laws and calling for an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force with Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Previously: Dole's Democratic cosponsors 2003-08.

How bipartisan has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole been?

From 2003 to 2008, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 140 bills. Of them, 80 had no cosponsors, 27 had only Republican cosponsors and 33 had Democratic cosponsors.

Overall, her 264 cosponsors included 164 Republicans and 100 Democrats, or about three-to-two ratio. A bill to give British Prime Minister Tony Blair the Congressional Medal of Honor was the most bipartisan measure, with 30 Democratic cosponsors.

Another bipartisan bill would have phased out reduced-price lunches at public schools by increasing eligibility for free lunches. Six Republican and eight Democrats signed on.

The most frequent Democratic cosponsor was Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who signed on to seven bills, including ones to investigate Camp Lejeune's drinking water and recognize the Lumbee tribe as well as several amendments to bills.

Sen. Joe Lieberman signed onto six bills, including ones to set aside a portion of the gross domestic product for defense spending and provide job training in college. Sens. Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, Richard Durbin, Frank Lautenberg and Bill Nelson each signed onto five bills.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards signed onto four Dole bills, including recognizing the Lumbees and honoring Blair.

Previously: Dole's cosponsors in 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08.

The U.S. House of Representatives appears to be fast-tracking U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge’s bill (HR6334) to crack down on any oil market manipulation or excessive speculation that might be going on in the energy commodities markets.

Etheridge introduced his bill Friday. He held a news conference on it today. Tomorrow, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing. Then a committee vote. A vote on the full House floor could come as soon as Wednesday.

Such speed is virtually unheard of in Congress unless leadership wants to push something through quickly, Barb Barrett reports. With gas prices jumping an average 10 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, Congress is working hard to prove that it is responding to public outcry.

It’s unclear what effect Etheridge’s bill might have on oil prices.

But over in another House committee hearing today, oil trading experts predicted that regulation could have an immediate impact on prices.

One oil analyst told Congress that global crude oil trading regulation "would significantly curb speculation and could burst the current oil price bubble."

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to take up U.S. Rep. Brad Miller’s bankruptcy bill as soon as this week.

Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, and Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez of California co-sponsored the legislation, which aims to keep about 600,000 homeowners from losing homes purchased under sub-prime lending rates, reports Barb Barrett.

In the Senate, Democrat Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania each have bankruptcy bills as well. Miller said Friday his House version is a good compromise between their ideas.

“I’m thinking of sliding my bill between them,” he said.