Latest Romney Ad Hones in on Immigration

Republican presidential hopeful, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney talks with reporters after speaking at a gathering of potential supporters, Friday, July 27, 2007, in Adel, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)

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BOSTON (AP) _ A smattering of Bush's top donors as well as Missouri's governor and the former chairman of the Florida Republican Party round out Mitt Romney's list of national finance committee chairs and co-chairs.

John Rakolta Jr. and Tom Tellefsen join eBay chief executive Meg Whitman among the 13 chairmen, while American Financial Group Chairman Carl Lindner Jr. and Ted Welch of Ted Welch investment _ both major donors to President Bush, are among the 61 co-chairmen.

Also on the roster are Gov. Matt Blunt, R-Mo.; Al Cardenas, former head of the Florida GOP, as well as some of the elite from the Mormon business community, including hoteliers William and Richard Marriott, developer Kem Gardner and cancer research advocate Jon Huntsman, the father of Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who is supporting Romney rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

All told, Romney has led the Republican field with $44.4 million in receipts, as of June 30, although the multimillionaire has also loaned his campaign $8.9 million.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton launched an effort Tuesday to double the amount of time relatives of wounded war veterans can take off from work to help them recover.

Clinton, the early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, rounded up a bipartisan group of senators seeking to extend family leave time for spouses or parents of seriously wounded troops from 12 weeks to six months.

The lawmakers are trying to make the change as an amendment to a children's health insurance bill now working its way through Congress.

"We don't have to spend any money, we don't have to build any bureaucracy, we just have to give these families the right to care for their loved one," said Clinton.

Sens. Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio said in a conference call Tuesday that they are acting in response to recommendations offered by Dole's husband, former senator and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, and former Clinton administration official Donna Shalala.

Dole and Shalala earlier this month issued a report highlighting gaps in the care provided to wounded veterans of the Iraq war, and suggesting dozens of improvements.