11.   In the Senate, the bill has cleared the committee level but has yet to reach the floor.

12.   Never before has such a bill cleared the House and Senate.

13.   Republicans and Democrats alike said that if the bill can clear the roadblock of the procedural motion, it will be passed overwhelmingly by the House.

14.   The bill had cleared the Senate unanimously and the House by a voice vote.

15.   The bill cleared its last legislative hurdle Thursday night after the Democrats picked off enough Republican votes to overcome a procedural challenge.

16.   The bill has cleared the Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, but has fallen into a sinkhole in the Republican-dominated Senate.

17.   The other eight appropriations bills have not cleared Congress, mainly because the Republicans cannot agree among themselves on various controversial provisions.

18.   The Presidio bill also must clear the House where Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is anticipating little opposition.

19.   Though the bill cleared its first hurdle Wednesday, it faces an uphill battle in the House, where Democrats opposed to vouchers control the House Public Education Committee.

20.   A drastic anti-smoking bill cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Friday, paving the way for clamp downs on advertising and tobacco use at work and public places.