KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- Sudan's government said Thursday it was willing to hold a new round of peace talks with Darfur rebels a day after it agreed in principle to a cease-fire in the western region.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who was in Sudan on a mediation mission this week, issued a joint statement Wednesday with President Omar al-Bashir saying both sides in the Darfur conflict had agreed to a 60-day cessation of hostilities while they work toward lasting peace.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry said Thursday the government is willing to conduct talks with Darfur rebels ''in any place and at any time, and has also agreed to a cease-fire.''

[Steve] Kagen, D-Appleton, was among a group of freshman lawmakers invited to the White House on Nov. 13 for an evening reception that included taking photos with Bush and his wife, Laura.

The reception culminated the first day of orientation week for newly elected members of Congress.

Kagen, still hurting from the hard campaign, reportedly took note that Bush had come to Green Bay to campaign against him and congratulated the president for helping him win in an indirect reference to Bush's low approval rating. Kagen then reportedly greeted the president's wife, Laura Bush, by intentionally using the first name of the president's mother, Barbara, instead.

"I did that because I learned on the campaign trail that the meanest thing you can say to another gentleman is, 'He's a fine fellow.' And then you refer to his spouse by a different name," Kagen is reported to have told a local peace activist group who visited his Appleton campaign office Dec. 19.

In addition, Kagen reportedly told the activists he held the door to a White House men's room closed when he was alone with Rove.

"You're in the White House and think you're safe, huh?" Kagen was said to have told Rove. "You recognize me? My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Russ Feingold plans to introduce legislation Monday with Sen. Barack Obama to strengthen ethics laws for members of Congress.

"This could be one of the best moments in many, many years, in terms of ethics in Washington," Feingold said in a telephone interview Monday.

The bill by Feingold, D-Wis., and Obama, D-Ill., would, among other things, ban lobbyists and the groups that employ them from making gifts to members, create an Office of Public Integrity to investigate ethics complaints, and ban a member from negotiating for future work as a lobbyist.

The Senate plans to take up the issue this week.

"I'm real optimistic that we're going to get at least major elements of it passed," said Feingold, a longtime champion of increased ethics in government. "... It's very clear from the election results that people, as a prerequisite for our doing other things, want us to clean up the corruption."

But Feingold said he wouldn't be surprised if Congress had to revisit the issue down the road even if it approves his plan.

"That's the nature of the game," he said. "You've got to find the abuses, find where they're trying to get the loopholes, and close them up. It's the nature of the system: it encourages people to try to find ways around the rules. But if we're tough, we can minimize the damage."

Fred Risser says he's been in the Wisconsin Legislature so long that the state is tearing down buildings he voted to construct.

The Madision Democrat first elected in 1956 officially became the nation's longest serving out of 75-hundred current state lawmakers this month. That's according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Risser spent six years in the Assembly before winning election to the Senate in a 1962 special election. Voters have returned him to office every four years since 1964.

Risser describes himself as a proud liberal who has pushed for regulations on smoking, to protect abortion rights and to increase funding for state employees and the University of Wisconsin.

Risser recently became Senate president after the Democrats won back control of the Senate. He says he hasn't decided whether he'll run for re-election in 2008.