Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and 17 other House Republicans introduced legislation on Friday that would give states the option to set their own education standards and opt out of the federal requirements and funding from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

"I do not believe it is in the best interest of our students or our country for the federal government to be dictating a one size fits all, top down approach to education," Garrett said. "In order for our students to compete in the 21st century, we need to cut the ties of federal mandates that go along with federal money."

Members of the House meet Friday morning to take up one last bill pre-empting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on coal ash before returning to their districts for a week.

The House will take up H.R. 2273, which would let states adopt and implement their own coal ash permit programs, and create minimum standards for the regulation of coal ash. The bill is a reaction to pending EPA rules that Republicans say would create more than $100 billion in compliance costs for coal-burning power plants, and lead to thousands of lost jobs.

The rule for the bill, which members will debate and approve before turning to the bill itself, makes five Democratic amendments in order, plus a Republican manager's amendment.

The Senate is out until Monday, when it will return to take up an appropriations bill.

The House on Thursday evening voted to postpone the implementation of several EPA rules that would regulate emissions from commercial, institutional and industrial boiler systems.

The EPA Regulatory Relief Act, sometimes referred to as “boiler MACT" would slow the implementation of rules designed to restrict the types and quantities of poisons water boilers use to create steam for heating buildings are allowed to emit.

The House approved a bill that Republicans said would prevent last year's healthcare law from funding abortions, but which Democrats said would go far beyond that and make it much harder for women to exercise their constitutional right to have abortions.

The bill, H.R. 358, was passed in a 251-172 vote that saw more than a dozen Democrats join nearly all voting Republicans in support of the measure.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced on Thursday night that the Senate would take up a legislative vehicle, H.R. 2112, to carry Agriculture, Commerce, Justice and Science, and Transportation appropriations bills on Monday afternoon.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Thursday evening argued that an abortion bill that is expected to pass tonight violates several Republican principles, including the protection of life and the absence of government intrusion.

Hoyer and other Democrats argued for much of Thursday that the bill, H.R. 358, would go well beyond a prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortion, and give hospitals the choice not to provide services to women in need of care, such as abortions that might be needed in emergency situations. Hoyer said that language seems to go against the title of the bill, the Protect Life Act.

"I don't think that's protecting life," Hoyer said. "In fact I think it's ignoring the protection of life."

President Lee Myung-bak said the free-trade agreement "will allow us to widely share the benefits of trade, more than ever."

The Senate approved Sung Y. Kim of California to serve as U.S. ambassador to South Korea on Thursday, just minutes before South Korean President Lee Myung-bak planned to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) made a unanimous consent request that the new ambassador be confirmed, which was quickly approved without objection.

Kerry also asked that in the near future, the Senate take up the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be the deputy director for the Office of Management and Budget. Kerry said there would be four hours of debate on this nomination.

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Thursday suggested Iran may be planning a “Kristallnacht in Farsi” against members of the Baha’i faith that reside in the country.

Kirk said Iran had recently cut off Baha’is from receiving public contracts, banned their children from universities and that the Interior Department had registered the addresses of all members of the religious minority.

“I would suggest we have seen his movie before in a different decade wearing different uniforms," said Kirk. “This is the bureaucracy necessary to carry out a Kristallnacht in Farsi."