Congress Returns To Weighty List Of Unfinished Business

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns on Tuesday with a critical need for a characteristic rarely evident this year — cooperation between Republicans and President Barack Obama.

Lawmakers face a weighty list of unfinished business and looming deadlines, including a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open beyond Sept. 30.

The most intractable issues — a solution to a yearlong battle over agency budgets and a deal on a long-sought highway bill — have been kicked to the fall.

GOP leaders are playing down talk of a government shutdown that's being driven by conservatives determined to use the spending legislation to strip funds from Planned Parenthood.

The first days for Congress will be marked by a fierce debate over the nuclear deal with Iran.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.