Early candidate protection adds to Secret Service burden

WASHINGTON - Presidential candidates received U.S. Secret Service protection earlier in this campaign cycle than ever before, adding to the agency's challenging workload, its director testified Thursday.

With seven months until the general election, the Secret Service so far has provided candidate protection for Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at more than 1,000 events, Director Mark Sullivan told a U.S. House appropriations subcommittee during a hearing on Homeland Security funding.