During today's committee deliberations, Mr. Quillan wore a large button saying, "A deal is a deal."

It now seems certain the committee deliberations will extend past the recess until after Easter, and probably longer.

Measures were approved in both houses without public testimony or committee deliberations.

It is a draft bill, and could well get tied up in committee deliberations and be prevented from returning to the floor for months.

With political strategists predicting that the midterm elections are unlikely to give Republicans a sweeping mandate, some Judiciary Committee members said November's election results should not be a factor in committee deliberations.

David Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas, admitted he was particularly angry at the number of leaks concerning confidential committee deliberations.

A committee aide who was present during this week's committee deliberations said Mr. Baker raised "pretty strong and serious objections" to the proposal.

But committee deliberations, floor debate, procedural rules, give-and-take bargaining - dismaying though they often are - can separate useful sheep from political goats.

Summaries, completed prior to committee deliberations, describe how a bill would change current law, including any fiscal impact.

In several schools, plans for rationalising the location and use of library and learning resources space were amongst the outcomes of committee deliberations.