1.   And Republicans said they are considering increasing their proposed spending levels for Medicare and Medicaid, the federally backed health insurance programs for the old, poor and disabled.

2.   But scientists said they had little doubt that the Bush plan will be revisited if federally backed research starts to show results.

3.   Federally backed flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program administered by the Federal Insurance Administration, an arm of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

4.   For instance, he said, Clinton must offer a way to revamp Medicare, the federally backed health insurance for the elderly that faces possible bankruptcy.

5.   Hale also said he issued one of the federally backed loans after Clinton had sought it, an accusation that the president adamantly denied.

6.   Hale also said that he issued one of the federally backed loans after Clinton had sought it, an accusation that the president adamantly denied.

7.   Hale had said that Clinton asked him to make an improper federally backed loan, some of which wound up in a Whitewater account.

8.   Hale had sought unsuccessfully to avoid an indictment by offering to testify that Clinton had improperly pressured him into making a large, federally backed loan to Susan McDougal.

9.   Hale has pleaded guilty on two felony counts related to making improper federally backed loans.

10.   Hale is a former municipal judge who also ran a federally backed investment business in Little Rock.