1.   Amtrak teeters on the brink of extinction as lawmakers tangle over labor provisions in the plan to reform the financially-troubled rail passenger corporation.

2.   -- Agreed to decide whether truck drivers who haul live chickens should be considered agricultural workers exempt from federal labor law provisions.

3.   A second, authored by Minnesota Democratic Rep. James Oberstar would strip out both the labor provisions and the damages caps.

4.   Bruno has refused to negotiate on the labor provision, and some advocacy groups have maintained that he deliberately inserted it to kill the bill.

5.   Dole pointedly needled the Democrats for objecting to the labor provision.

6.   Hutchison said she would work with Kerry before the bill reaches the floor to address his concerns about the labor provisions.

7.   McCain pointed out that his bill already contains a mild labor provision acceptable to Democrats and Republicans alike.

8.   Minnesota Democratic Rep. James Oberstar is expected to offer an amendment tomorrow that would strip out both the labor provisions and the damages caps.

9.   Pro-labor Democrats are sure to take a second crack at the labor provisions when the bill reaches the full House for consideration.

10.   The Democrats say the damage caps are unfair and the labor provisions are more important to ideology than economics, because Amtrak rarely lays off employees.