WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee hopes to nail down an elusive compromise on high-tech visas and may punt a controversy over gay marriage to the full Senate as it makes final drafting decisions on immigration legislation that grants a shot at citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

The high-tech issue involves a negotiation at arm's length between industry, which relies on ever-increasing numbers of skilled foreigners, and organized labor, which represents American workers, according to lawmakers and officials close to the talks.

As drafted, the bill would raise the current cap on so-called H-1B visas from 65,000 annually to 110,000, with the possibility of a further rise to 180,000. At issue in the talks are the costs that companies must bear to bring foreigners into the United States, the steps they must first take to seek out American citizens for the jobs and other conditions.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, whose state has a large high-tech industry, told reporters on Monday he will vote in favor of the legislation in committee if agreement is reached on the issue. He has been negotiating with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said in late afternoon no deal had been sealed.

On the other major remaining unresolved issue, officials said there was a growing if unspoken expectation that the measure would likely emerge from committee without a provision granting same-sex spouses the same access to legal status as heterosexual spouses are entitled to.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has introduced a proposal to give equal treatment under the bill to same-sex couples, a provision gay rights groups seek. Several lobbyists and others noted during the day he has not yet said definitively said if he will seek a vote on it before the panel completes its work, and neither the White House nor other Democrats on the committee have made a strong push for its inclusion.

A vote on the proposal could create political difficulty for Democrats on the committee who support gay rights and are also members of the so-called Gang of Eight which negotiated the main features of the legislation. That includes Sen. Chuck Schumer or New York and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Durbin has told outside groups he will back the change if it is offered. Schumer hasn't said which way he would vote.

All eight have pledged to maintain the essential outlines of the legislation. A vote to add the gay rights provision could lead to approval on a party-line vote in committee, but lead to the collapse of Republican support on the Senate floor and the bill's demise.

In addition, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by early July that could render the issue largely moot.

At its core, the legislation would provide an opportunity of U.S. citizenship to millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, create a new visa program for low-skilled workers and permit a sizeable increase in the number of high-tech visas, at the same time it mandates new measures to crack down on future unlawful immigration.

Final committee approval is expected by midweek, with the full Senate likely to begin debate next month.

The measure is one of President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities, although the administration has generally let the committee work on its own.

In a show of support, though, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden arranged to meet Tuesday in the Oval Office at the White House with individuals directly affected by the measure.

In a long day of drafting on Monday, the panel voted to begin phasing in a requirement for foreigners to undergo fingerprinting when they leave the country. Lawmakers also agreed to make an immigrant's third drunk driving conviction a deportable offense in some cases.

The committee rejected other proposals that backers of the bill said were unworkable.

Among them was one by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to require that every application filed as a first step toward seeking citizenship be done so online.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to include a provision requiring applicants to disclose any Social Security numbers they had used previously, but that fell on a party-line vote.

Democrats, too, were forced to scale back some of their proposals to win support.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, dropped a provision making Pell Grants available to individuals who have embarked on the path to citizenship. She won agreement for more limited benefits, such as access to financial aid.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is debating cuts to the federally subsidized crop insurance program as it considers a massive farm bill this week.

The Obama administration said Monday it wants to see more cuts to crop insurance and farm subsidies in the legislation, which would cost almost $100 billion a year over five years and would set policy for farm programs and food aid.

The bill would cut about $2.4 billion annually from overall farm spending. But it would still expand federally subsidized crop insurance and raise some subsidies for rice and peanut farmers. The White House did not specify how large a cut it was seeking.

Almost $80 billion of the annual cost of the bill is for domestic food aid, with most of the rest of the money split between farm subsidies, federal help for crop insurance and programs to protect environmentally sensitive land.

The government spent an estimated $15.8 billion on the program for the 2012 crop year after a drought destroyed many crops, up from $9.4 billion in 2011. The government subsidizes about 62 percent of farmers' insurance premiums and also subsidizes the insurance companies that sell the policies. The cost of the program has risen in recent years because of bad weather events and record-high crop prices.

The Senate began debating the bill Monday, with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., saying she expected several amendments to be offered on the crop insurance program. Stabenow and other farm-state senators have argued that crop insurance should be maintained and even expanded because it protects farmers when they need it most and because farmers contribute some of their own money to the program.

Critics say federal contributions to crop insurance are too generous and subsidize big agricultural businesses.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., offered the first crop insurance amendment Monday, proposing an end to $33 million a year in insurance policies for tobacco farmers. A buyout for tobacco farmers enacted nine years ago is phasing out government payments to tobacco farmers, but many of them still receive crop insurance.

"It turns out Joe Camel's nose has been under the tent this whole time in terms of crop insurance subsidies," McCain said, referring to a character that used to appear on packs of Camel cigarettes.

Cuts to the food stamp program are also expected to be a contentious issue on the Senate floor.

The administration statement did not say whether President Barack Obama supports $400 million in annual cuts to the food stamp program contained in the Senate bill. The statement said it supports the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, but did not specifically mention the cuts.

The Obama administration has been stronger in opposing cuts to SNAP in the House farm bill, which are about five times as much as the cuts in the Senate bill.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Monday he was "deeply concerned" about the House food stamp cuts, which he said would "deny struggling families and their children access to food assistance."

Though Senate Democrats have generally opposed cutting food stamps, Stabenow included the small cuts in the Senate version of the bill to try to appease House Republicans who say the program is too expensive.

The legislation approved by the House Agriculture Committee last week would cut about $2.5 billion a year, or a little more than 3 percent, from SNAP, which is used by 1 in 7 Americans.

The House legislation would achieve the cuts partly by eliminating what is called categorical eligibility, or giving people automatic food stamp benefits when they sign up for certain other programs. It also would save dollars by targeting states that give people who don't have heating bills very small amounts of heating assistance so they can automatically qualify for higher food stamp benefits.

The Senate bill, also approved in committee last week, saves money in the food stamp program only by targeting the heating assistance dollars.

While calling for deeper cuts to subsidies, the White House also called for Congress to maintain the strong safety net farmers have now. Current farm programs expire Sept. 30.

"It is critical that the Congress pass legislation that provides certainty for rural America and includes needed reforms and savings," the White House said.

The Senate passed a similar bill last year, but the House did not consider it.

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BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil rose toward $97 per barrel Tuesday, but gains were checked as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's latest views on the U.S. economy.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up 16 cents to $96.87 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 69 cents to close at $96.71 on Monday.

On Wednesday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before Congress and the central bank will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting. Traders will be looking for hints on what the Fed might be preparing to do in light of recent data that has pointed toward a sustained economic recovery.

There is ongoing speculation that the Fed might want to scale back or modify its super-loose monetary policy and its massive, $85 billion-a-month program of bond purchases intended to keep interest rates low and prop up the recovery.

"We hear some testimony from Big Ben Bernanke this week and we can only think that he's going to stick to his mantra. Meaning that he's status quo; the economy is moving along well, we would like to see it move faster, but we're doing all we can," said Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks and Opinions in an email commentary.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, rose 21 cents to $105.01 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline was little changed at $2.893 a gallon.

— Heating oil rose 0.5 cent to $2.946 a gallon.

— Natural gas gained 1.3 cents to $4.103 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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