WASHINGTON - The Senate is trying again to accomplish what Congress failed to do last year — extend the federal government's chief means of protecting women from domestic abuse while broadening those protections for Native Americans, gays and lesbians.

Both the Democratic-led Senate and the GOP House last year passed extensions of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, but the two chambers were unable to bridge a partisan divide and reach a compromise. With Republican losses among women voters in the November election still a fresh memory, Senate advocates are hoping that it will be easier this year to find common ground with House Republicans.

The Senate bill coming up for a test vote on Monday essentially is the same as the measure that easily passed the Senate last April.