But Berkley was moved to defend the latest trip after an itinerary that was leaked to The Washington Post showed the Americans were scheduled to spend several days in Venice and Naples in Italy before returning home this coming Friday.

Post columnist Al Kamen reported that the group of 11 lawmakers, plus some spouses and staff, would be staying in the "spectacular" Westin Europa & Regina hotel in Venice and the "lovely" Hotel Excelsior in Naples, with dinner there at a three-star restaurant and a tour of Pompeii.

Before she left, Berkley said it was wrong to characterize the trip as a junket.

Besides the legislative sessions in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, the House members "are also making an effort when we go overseas to visit as many countries in the European Union as possible," Berkley said, and Slovenia "is very close to Italy."

"We have an extremely busy schedule," she said, including a memorial wreath laying and visits with U.S. service members at Aviano Air Base in Italy and meetings with officials in Venice to learn how the city, which is built on canals and is sinking, is affected by global warming.

In Venice, the lawmakers will meet with university officials and be briefed on research into liquefied gas.

In Naples, the schedule includes a wreath laying at the U.S. Navy base and a "roundtable on bilateral relations and politics," Berkley said.

"It is a busy, busy agenda, and in between, there is some time for actual pleasure and enjoyment," she said. In Venice, "I am going to go on a gondola after I have done the Air Force base and the liquid petroleum meeting."

Berkley said she and her husband also were planning to attend the opera in Venice.

"On Tuesday night, there is nothing planned after a full day," she said. "I am paying for my own ticket to go to the opera.

"I could sit in my hotel room and in the lobby," Berkley said, but the outing was permissible "as long as I am paying for my own ticket."

ENSIGN FEELS COLONISTS' PAIN

Sen. John Ensign occasionally gives speeches calling on senators to overcome partisanship and work for the greater good.

Inspired by David McCullough's biography of John Adams and the HBO miniseries on the same man, Ensign last week reached back to colonial times to make his point.

In a Senate speech Wednesday evening, Ensign placed issues of terrorism, tax cuts, health care, education and immigration in the context of challenges that were faced at the birth of the nation.

"Yes, these are tough questions with serious consequences," he said. But the Founding Fathers "faced questions that we take for granted centuries later, which could only have been resolved by incredible vision and the grace of God."

As difficult as it is to pass bills in the Senate today, "it was painfully difficult to make decisions about forming a new government" when the Constitution was drafted in the summer of 1787, Ensign said. "But these men did not let the process interfere with their progress."

Ensign said afterward that he had finished the McCullough book and was an episode shy of completing the John Adams miniseries.

"I have been thinking of doing more and more speeches like this," he said. "It is important to get inspiration from your past and from history so we can learn from it. Those folks who put together the Constitution had to fight bitterly for those ideas, but in the end they came together. I think it is a lesson for us."

AND IN THIS CORNER ...

Nevada's status as a battleground in the presidential race is apparent this week, as both John McCain and Barack Obama are slated to visit the Silver State.

For now, McCain is the front-runner, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released last week.

The statewide poll of 500 likely voters, conducted May 20, found 46 percent support for McCain and 40 percent for Obama. The pollster didn't test Hillary Clinton's support.

The results weren't much different from a Rasmussen poll in April, which had McCain up 48-43 over Obama. That poll found McCain would do even better against Clinton, 49 percent to 38 percent.

In analyzing the results, Rasmussen saw Democratic disunity. Only 65 percent of Democrats polled said they would vote for Obama; 32 percent said Clinton should drop out of the race, but 29 percent wanted Obama to drop out.

Nevada voters rated the economy their top issue by a wide margin in the survey, with 38 percent picking that topic. In second place was immigration, the top issue for 18 percent, followed by the war in Iraq at 17 percent and national security also at 17 percent.

Asked what was more important, getting the troops home or winning the war, 49 percent said bringing them home and 44 percent said winning the war.

As for the current president -- remember him? -- he got a good or excellent job rating from 34 percent of Nevadans. But 49 percent surveyed gave him a poor rating.

UNION NODS OF APPROVAL

The Service Employees International Union in Nevada last week issued "early endorsements for pro-worker candidates," giving the union's seal of approval to 24 incumbent elected officials and 21 Southern Nevada judicial candidates.

More endorsements are coming, the union of nurses and county workers said in a news release, so it wasn't clear whether any conclusions could be drawn from the names left out of the first round.

The incumbents included 21 members of the state Assembly, 20 of them Democrats. Five Democrats who are seeking re-election didn't get the nod: Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas, and Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City.

One Assembly Republican, Tom Grady, R-Yerington, was endorsed.

In a good sign for union unity, Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, was not only endorsed, he was quoted in the news release

Also endorsed were Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Clark County Commissioners Tom Collins and Bruce Woodbury, provided the latter beats his term limits challenge and remains on the ballot. Collins is a Democrat, Woodbury a Republican.

A third incumbent commissioner, Lawrence Weekly, didn't make the first round of endorsements.

SEIU undertook a more intensive endorsement process this year than it normally does, particularly with regard to judicial candidates. SEIU workers staff the judges' chambers.

In four cases, the union endorsed challenger candidates against incumbent judges: William Kephart, running for the seat held by Jessie Walsh; Stefany Miley, running to unseat the perpetually embattled Elizabeth Halverson; Amy Mastin, running for Family Court against Cynthia "Dianne" Steel; and Cynthia Giuliani, who seeks to oust scandal-beset Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.