1.   And he called on Silver, who has stayed firm in his opposition to weakening the laws, to do the same.

2.   A bill pending in Congress now threatens to undermine that work, weakening copyright law in the process.

3.   Budget appropriations are being wielded by Congress as weapons to weaken environmental laws and the agency that enforces them, environmentalists and congressional supporters said Tuesday.

4.   But many government experts and civil rights advocates argue that the proposed change could weaken laws designed to combat discrimination in areas like voting and mortgage lending.

5.   But the reform law was weakened by the PRI congressional majority.

6.   Clinton said he would reject any legislation that weakens current laws but would not say how he would react to compromise legislation that may emerge.

7.   DeLay denied that congressional Republicans have tried to weaken environmental laws.

8.   Every time that Congress or a state legislature meets, special-interest groups attempt to weaken these laws for selfish reasons.

9.   In addition, the rightward turn of Congress as a whole will provide votes for efforts to weaken conservation laws.

10.   In recent days, Pataki has suggested that he will agree to weakening the law, even though he has long been an advocate of battery-powered vehicles.