Clifford Stanley, the undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, says it would be unconscionable not to enact the so-called Dream Act. It would give hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16 a chance to gain legal status if they joined the military or attended college.

But it faces long odds in Congress, where most Republicans and a handful of Democrats regard it as backdoor amnesty for lawbreakers.

Democrats' bid to advance it is likely to fail in a Senate test-vote scheduled for Wednesday.

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House Speaker-to-be John Boehner is planning to install the first-ever women's restroom next to the floor of the House of Representatives.

Boehner's office says he'll direct the Architect of the Capitol to convert an office into a ladies' room just steps away from where lawmakers cast votes and debate legislation. It mirrors the space occupied by a men's restroom on the other side of the House chamber.

Female members of the House have long complained that while their male colleagues can duck in and out of a men's room right next to the chamber, their closest restroom is much farther away.

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Raw politics -- the drive to win a House-majority 218 seats, no matter how -- is increasingly trumping policy and loyalty in these decisions, as Democrats shift money and attention in the closing days of the campaign toward races they can win and pull back from those seemingly lost.

The Democrats are shelling out $40 million in 59 congressional districts in the last three weeks of the campaign for TV advertising. Republicans, boosted by well-funded outside groups, are working to expand the political battleground by pouring money into 82 races next week alone.

Feelings are being hurt along the way.

In a fundraising video in Ohio this week, Rep. Steve Driehaus lashed out at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for "walking away" from his race after he "had the guts" to cast tough votes for key measures.

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Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana tells CBS's "The Early Show" the document being released today represents the party's response to what its lawmakers have heard at town meetings and from constituents.

Topping the list, says Pence, is a party policy that "Congress ought to be acting to make sure there is no tax increase on any American at any level."

Pence says tax policies being promoted by President Barack Obama would penalize small businesses. The Republican said, "We simply believe that raising taxes on job creators won't create jobs."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are putting their leading midterm congressional campaign arguments into a new manifesto designed to show they're listening to an angry public and are focused on creating jobs.

GOP lawmakers on Thursday were to roll out their "Pledge to America" -- a 21-page document filled with familiar proposals to slash taxes and spending and cut down on government regulation, as well as repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and end his stimulus program.

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Democrats praised President Barack Obama's nominee as a highly qualified legal scholar who would add a sorely needed note of fairness and commonsense to a court whose conservative majority, they argue, has run amok. Republicans charged she's an inexperienced cipher who would use her post to mold the law to her own liberal beliefs.

Despite the partisan divide, Kagan was on track for easy confirmation with the support of nearly all Democrats and a handful of GOP senators. In line to become the court's fourth woman, she's not expected to alter the ideological balance of the court in succeeding retired Justice John Paul Stevens, a leader of its liberal wing.

"She made clear she'll base her approach to deciding cases on the law and the Constitution -- not on politics, not on an ideological agenda," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

He called her views "mainstream," and said she has "demonstrated her respect for the rule of law, her appreciation for the separation of powers, and her understanding of the meaning of our Constitution."

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Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is previewing his case against Kagan in a letter to senators the day before the Senate begins debating her nomination.

A vote to confirm President Barack Obama's nominee is planned by the end of the week, with virtually all Democrats and a handful of Republicans expected to be in favor.

Sessions calls Kagan's lack of judicial experience a "dramatic deficit," and says she would try to mold the law to her liberal beliefs. He charges she's worked to increase the availability of abortions and is hostile to gun rights.

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Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is warning fellow senators to "be careful" about backing President Barack Obama's nominee, who's expected to be confirmed easily next week.

He says Americans won't forgive senators who vote to "impose a legal progressive activist legislator from the bench upon them."

Sessions' latest and strongest speech denouncing Kagan comes shortly after Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine became the fourth Republican to announce she'd break with her party to support Obama's nominee.

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The Maine lawmaker said in a statement Friday that Kagan has the intellect, experience, temperament and integrity to serve honorably on the high court.

Collins' announcement makes her the third Republican to break with her party to back President Barack Obama's nominee to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens.

GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Richard Lugar of Indiana did so earlier this week.

Collins says she doesn't agree with some of Kagan's positions, such as on gun rights, but believes she deserves to be confirmed based on her record, character and promises to stick to court precedents.

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The Indiana Republican's position doesn't alter the positive outlook for Kagan, who was already on track to be confirmed early next month. Democrats have more than enough votes to push through her nomination, and Republican foes have shown little inclination -- despite pressure from conservative groups -- to block the move through a filibuster.

Lugar's announcement is the latest in what's expected to be a trickle of support among the Senate's band of GOP moderates for President Barack Obama's choice to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens.

In a statement, Lugar said he'd carefully followed Kagan's confirmation hearing testimony and the debate about her nomination, including recommendations from his constituents, and concluded that she is up to the job.

"I have concluded that Solicitor General Elena Kagan is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court and that she has demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of court history and decisions," Lugar said.

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The 13-6 vote sends Kagan's nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed as early as next week to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Just one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, joined panel Democrats in supporting President Barack Obama's second Supreme Court nominee. A few more Republicans are likely to back her in the full Senate, where Democrats have more than enough votes to confirm her.

Most GOP senators argue that Kagan would put her political views ahead of the law. They also point to what they call her liberal agenda on such issues as abortion and gun rights.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Elena Kagan faces the first vote on her nomination to the Supreme Court before a Senate panel dominated by Democrats who are all but certain to support her. The only real question is whether she will get any Republican votes.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee met Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the panel's top GOP member, said he would oppose Kagan, saying she has placed her politics above the law, lacks experience and has activist judicial heroes.

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This summer's debate over Kagan's nomination has taken on a particularly partisan tinge because it's taking place just months before fall elections, even though her confirmation is not in serious doubt.

Last year, many Republicans stayed publicly uncommitted for weeks about how they would vote on Justice Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first pick for the high court.

This time around, however, with the president's popularity sagging and GOP senators eager to draw strong contrasts with him and other Democrats, several who are facing re-election have been quick to announce their plans to vote "no" on Kagan.

They include Arizona Sen. John McCain, Alaska's Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

All were opponents of Sotomayor's last year when she won just nine Republican votes. But most waited until later in the game to announce how they would vote, including Murkowski, who held out until the day before the roll call.

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That's all according to Senate Republicans and conservative activists, who are sharpening their criticism of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee and revealing strategies for confronting her at Judiciary Committee hearings that begin Monday.

As the White House and congressional Democrats tout Kagan as a fair-minded, glass ceiling-shattering legal mind who can bridge the ideological chasm of today's Supreme Court, Republicans and their allies are working to discredit her and raise doubts about giving her a lifetime spot there.

It's a tall order, since there's no telling how Kagan -- she has never been a judge -- will behave once on the bench. The 50-year-old former Harvard Law School dean and Clinton administration aide served until recently as solicitor general arguing for the Obama administration before the Supreme Court.

The American Bar Association on Thursday have her its highest rating, calling Kagan "well qualified" for a position on the Supreme Court.

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Opponents and backers of President Barack Obama's choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens stepped up their efforts with Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Kagan's confirmation just days away.

Bork said Kagan's admiration for the liberal former president of Israel's Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, disqualifies her to serve on the nation's highest court.

Barak "may be the worst judge on the planet -- the most activist," said Bork, the conservative former judge whose 1987 nomination to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan was rejected by the Senate after a partisan battle.

"If people understood that an American Supreme Court nominee was going to follow the example of Barak, there would be grave misgivings and probably a refusal to confirm," Bork said.

Barak is acknowledged by critics and admirers as an enormously influential jurist who took an activist approach to judging. He once declared a series of human rights laws enacted by Israel's legislature to be the country's constitution, and said it was up to the court to review future measures to ensure they complied.

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It's all a rehearsal for Kagan's big performance next week during her confirmation hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee. The "murder boards" are elaborately planned sessions where Kagan hashes out answers to every conceivable question and practices staying calm and poised during hours of pressure and hot television lights.

About 20 members of President Barack Obama's team play senators, peppering Kagan with tough questions designed to trip her up or elicit an unscripted response. Kagan practices being herself. She works to avoid handing her opposition the 10-second sound bite that could derail her so-far smooth trajectory toward confirmation.

The process is shrouded in secrecy; the White House refuses to describe it. But officials say that White House counsel Bob Bauer's office is in charge of the sessions, which take place in an office building just steps from the West Wing, with Associate Counsel Susan Davies running most of the day-to-day practice.

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Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the National Archives and Records Administration, said the staff there is "hoping to get through all the rest of the papers" requested by the Senate Judiciary Committee by Friday. That doesn't include nearly 80,000 pages of e-mails written by or to Kagan, which will be released later, Cooper added.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Judiciary Republican, said Wednesday that senators needed access to all the records by week's end.

"This idea that you can read the documents and immediately walk into the hearing room and ask an intelligent question is not true. You have to have an opportunity to go through it, (and) to think about it," Sessions said. "I think it's important that we get the documents by Friday."

That's just over two weeks before the panel's confirmation hearings begin. Sessions has said he would ask for a delay of the June 28 hearing date if senators didn't have adequate time to review the Clinton-era documents, which total some 160,000 pages.

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Kagan's memos and notes -- part of a 46,500-page batch of records released by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library -- reveal her pragmatic streak as she haggled with a Republican Congress that was just months away from impeaching her boss. She wanted to strike a tobacco deal that could not only be enacted but also stand up in court.

In one note, Kagan argues that tobacco advertising limits should be voluntary.

Kagan says she isn't sure she buys the argument by other administration officials that First Amendment concerns aren't a serious issue.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's paper trail is about to get a lot longer.

The William J. Clinton Presidential Library is scheduled Friday afternoon to release the first batch of a 160,000-page trove of records from Kagan's service in the former president's White House. The National Archives announced it would post 46,500 pages on the library's website.

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Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and George S. LeMieux of Florida made their comments a day after one of the court's conservative icons, Justice Antonin Scalia, undercut Republican criticism of Kagan's lack of a judicial background.

Scalia's remark, made during a lecture Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Washington, "helps her. Definitely, it helps her," said Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold confirmation hearings on Kagan set to begin June 28. "I think that argument is not going to go very far."

LeMieux, who had a lengthy meeting with Kagan in the Capitol Thursday, also said judicial inexperience was not a concern.

"I don't find that in any way a prohibition to her service," LeMieux said. The first-term Floridian called Kagan intelligent, articulate and "refreshingly forthcoming" on a variety of questions he posed, on subjects including free speech, guns, gay and lesbian rights and abortion.

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In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York said she views as "troubling" a 1997 memo Kagan wrote urging then-President Bill Clinton to back all abortions of viable fetuses except when the physical health of the mother was at risk.

Slaughter, the co-chair of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, wrote that the lack of a judicial record for Kagan, who has never been a judge, makes it imperative that the committee scrutinize her abortion views.

Kagan, President Barack Obama's choice to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, was a domestic policy adviser to Clinton when she wrote the memo Slaughter cited. That memo is part of a trove of documents, most of them unreleased, at the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.

In the 1997 memo, Kagan urged Clinton to support a ban on late-term abortions, a political compromise that put the administration at odds with abortion rights groups. Kagan and her boss, Bruce Reed, told the president that he should support the ban because it might help him avoid even stricter language from a Republican-led Congress. Clinton supported it, but the proposal ultimately failed and Clinton vetoed a stricter Republican ban.

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Kagan, in her second full day of private one-on-one meetings on Capitol Hill, scored points for candor with one-time critic Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and convinced Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts that she's a strong supporter of the military, despite her move as law school dean to bar its recruiters from Harvard's campus.

Neither senator committed to voting for Kagan, the solicitor general who President Barack Obama has tapped to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. But the positive reviews suggested Kagan is making a strong case for herself as she calls on the senators whose votes she'll need to be confirmed.

"It was a very good meeting, and I think she was very forthcoming," said Specter, who is days from a tough primary election in which his Democratic opponent has made an issue of his vote last year against confirming Kagan to her current post.

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Vanity was an easy target as lawmakers scraped for cash for the nearly $1 trillion plan to expand health care to millions of Americans who lack insurance. But it's no joke to the drug makers and people who perform the cosmetic nips and tucks. And they're fighting back.

Skin-smoothing Botox injections could be hard-hit. There were some 4.7 million last year and an average cost per visit of about $400, some including several injections.

"It is a random hit on an easy target that is only punitive and not corrective," said Caroline Van Hove, a spokeswoman for Allergan Inc., the maker of Botox Cosmetic. "The bottom line is that taxing cosmetic procedures is unnecessarily punitive on people who have merely decided to enhance their appearance."

At issue is a proposal in the 10-year, nearly $1 trillion health care draft unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that would slap a 5 percent excise tax on elective cosmetic surgeries and procedures. The plan, projected to raise $6 billion, wouldn't apply to surgery to fix a deformity or injury, but would include procedures such as face lifts, liposuction, cosmetic implants or teeth-whitening.

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