International court issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi (Reuters)

THE HAGUE/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Monday for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and rebels trying to oust him said their forces had advanced to within 80 km (50 miles) of the capital.

The court approved warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity. ICC prosecutors allege they were involved in the killing of civilian protesters who rose up in February against Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

"To prevent them covering up ongoing crimes and committing new crimes, they should be arrested. This is the only way to protect civilians in Libya," said ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who had sought the arrest warrants.

The ruling is unlikely to lead to Gaddafi's arrest as long he remains in power and inside Libya, because the court does not have the power to enforce its warrants.

Celebrations erupted in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, in eastern Libya, after the ICC ruling. People honked their car horns, waved flags, fired shots into the air and flashed victory signs in the street.

The ICC decision invalidated any notion of having negotiations with Gaddafi, insurgent officials said.

Gaddafi's government denies targeting civilians, saying it took action against armed criminal gangs and al Qaeda militants. It says NATO should be prosecuted instead for killing civilians with its bombing campaign.

Anti-Gaddafi rebels, based in the Western Mountains region southwest of Tripoli, made their biggest breakthrough in weeks to reach the town of Bir al-Ghanam, where they are now fighting pro-Gaddafi forces for control, their spokesman said.

The advance took them about 30 km (18 miles) north from their previous position and closer to Tripoli, Gaddafi's biggest power base.

A senior United Nations official said the war on the ground was started to shift in favor of the insurgents, who for weeks have been bogged down in battles with Gaddafi's forces.

"While we do not have a detailed understanding of the military situation on the ground, it is clear that the initiative, although halting, is now with the opposition forces, supported at times by NATO air power," the U.N. under secretary-general for political affairs, Lynn Pascoe, told the U.N. Security Council.

BLOODY REVOLT

The rebels -- backed by NATO air support -- have been battling Gaddafi's forces since late February, when thousands of people rebelled, prompting a fierce crackdown by Gaddafi's security forces.

The revolt has turned into the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolts against autocratic rulers rippling across the Middle East.

"We are on the southern and western outskirts of Bir al-Ghanam," Juma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Zintan, said by telephone.

"There were battles there most of yesterday. Some of our fighters were martyred and they (government forces) also suffered casualties and we captured equipment and vehicles. It's quiet there today and the rebels are still in their positions."

A Reuters reporter in the center of Tripoli heard at least two loud explosions on Monday coming from the direction of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound, repeatedly targeted by NATO.

Later, government officials took reporters to the compound. They showed them a burned-out bus which, they said, belonged to Gaddafi and had been hit by two NATO missiles.

ISOLATION

Gaddafi is the second sitting head of state to have an ICC arrest warrant issued against him. The previous one was Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Securing arrests, however, has proven difficult for the ICC, which has no police force and relies on member states to enforce arrest orders. Some states have refused to arrest Bashir, who is still able to travel to friendly states.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the court's ruling reinforced the reasons for the alliance's bombing campaign and deepened Gaddafi's isolation.

"(Gaddafi) and his henchmen need to realize that time is rapidly running out for them," Rasmussen said in a statement.

"NATO is more determined than ever to keep up the pressure until all attacks on civilians have ended, until all regime forces have returned to their bases and until there is unhindered access to humanitarian aid."

Reading out the ruling at the court in The Hague, presiding judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said Gaddafi has "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over Libya's state apparatus and security forces.

She said both Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam "conceived and orchestrated a plan to deter and quell by all means the civilian demonstrations" against the regime and that al-Senussi used his position of command to have attacks carried out.

Gaddafi's administration made no immediate comment on the ICC ruling. Speaking on Sunday, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the court was guilty of double standards and was following a Western political agenda.

"The ICC has no legitimacy whatsoever," Ibrahim told reporters.

In Benghazi, in eastern Libya, the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) said the arrest warrants rendered any attempt at peace talks with Gaddafi pointless.

"After this warrant, it is all irrelevant. We cannot negotiate with war criminals," NTC spokesman Jalal al-Galal told Reuters. "The world has confirmed what we have been saying all along. He's a war criminal, and he should be tried for it."

"We are extremely happy that the whole world has united in prosecuting Gaddafi for the crimes he has committed," Galal said. "The people feel vindicated by such a response."

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the council chairman, urged Gaddafi's aides and supporters to abandon him, saying those who help him escape justice will end up sharing his punishment. "It is time to abandon Gaddafi to spare themselves," he added.

In neighboring Tunisia, three Libyan ministers, including the foreign minister, were holding talks with "foreign parties," the Tunisian state news agency reported, in a possible sign some in Gaddafi's circle were seeking a settlement.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Maria Golovnina in Benghazi, Sherine El Madany in Cairo, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and David Brunnstrom in Brussels; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Court issues arrest warrant for Libyan leader Gadhafi

(CNN) -- The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Monday for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and two of his relatives.

ICC Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng read aloud the decision to issue warrants for Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi.

Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi is a close adviser to his father. His arrest warrant came two days after his 39th birthday. Al-Sanussi serves as Gadhafi's head of intelligence.

The warrants are "for crimes against humanity," including murder and persecution, "allegedly committed across Libya" from Feb. 15 through "at least" Feb. 28, "through the state apparatus and security forces," the court said in a news release.

In Misrata, a critical city for Libyan rebels in which fighting has raged, a crowd cheered Monday following the news from the court.

The announcement at The Hague came as fighting inside Libya inched closer to the capital. A rebel fighter, Hassan al-Jiwali, told CNN the rebels were 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tripoli on Monday.

Libya is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the international court's authority, and the court does not have the power to enter Libya and arrest the leaders. Many of those cheering in Misrata saw the news as a sign that the world recognizes the conduct rebels say Gadhafi's regime has been engaged in.

The three-judge Pre-Trial Chamber I at The Hague found "reasonable grounds to believe that the three suspects committed the alleged crimes and that their arrests appear necessary in order to ensure their appearances before the court," the written announcement said. The court also believes the warrants are needed to ensure that the three "do not continue to obstruct and endanger the court's investigations; and to prevent them from using their powers to continue the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court."

The U.N. Security Council referred the matter to the ICC through a resolution Feb. 26, following widespread complaints about Gadhafi's efforts to crush a rebellion. The resolution said that while "states not party to the Rome Statute have no obligations under the statute, the Security Council urged all states and concerned regional and other international organisations to cooperate fully with the court and the prosecutor."

Gadhafi has made clear he would not recognize the court's authority.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said he has evidence linking Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Abdullah al-Sanussi to crimes against humanity, including "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians, in their attempt to put down the months-long revolt.

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim has previously denied the allegations and criticized what he said were incoherent conclusions of the prosecutor's office.

The United Nations issued a statement Monday about the arrest warrants, noting that "hundreds of people are confirmed to have been killed since opposition forces rose up against the regime of Mr. Gadhafi in February as part of a wider pro-democracy movement across North Africa and the Middle East."

The European Union said it "fully supports" the court and underscores that the court's Libya investigation "is an independent judicial process which must be fully respected."

Not everyone was cheering the news. Michael Rubin, an analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the court's move could damage efforts to get Gadhafi to end his 42-year reign, because he would not seek refuge in a country that is a signatory to the Rome Statute.

"The ICC's arrest warrant symbolizes the dirty underside of international law," Rubin said. "While the ICC makes itself feel good and diplomats can chatter about their commitment to international law, the fact of the matter is their action takes off the table any possibility that Gadhafi could flee to a retirement haven outside Libya. In effect, the ICC arrest warrant tells Gadhafi to fight to the death."

This is not the first time that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for a country's leader in the midst of a conflict. The court issued a warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2007, while conflict simmered in that country's western Darfur region.

Moreno-Ocampo told CNN shortly after filing his request with the court that he had evidence that revealed Saif al-Islam Gadhafi organized the recruitment of mercenaries to defend the regime and al-Sanussi participated in attacks on demonstrators.

Authorities believe Moammar Gadhafi ordered attacks on unarmed civilians, he told CNN, and al-Sanussi is "his right-hand man, the executioner."

Moreno-Ocampo began investigating claims against Moammar Gadhafi on February 15, when demonstrations against the leader's regime accelerated. Since then, war has erupted in Libya as Moammar Gadhafi has tried to keep his grip on power.

The probe took investigators to 11 countries and included the review of 1,200 documents and interviews with about 50 witnesses. A report issued in early May found the alleged crimes against humanity include the alleged commission of rape by supporters of Gadhafi's government, as well as the deportation or forcible transfer of citizens during the civil war in the country.

Moreno-Ocampo has scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss the court's decision.

The issue of Libyan casualties led the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution in March authorizing force by whatever means necessary, with the exception of a ground invasion, to protect civilians. NATO began bombing military targets a short time later.

A rebel military leader, Hajj Osama al-Jiwali, told CNN Monday that rebels want "more airstrikes and hits of Ghadafi strategic locations for the wake of time and for the the rebuilding of Libya." He called on the United Nations to be "at the forefront" of efforts in Libya.

Al-Jiwali said rebel fighters on Sunday fought "a very fierce battle against the Gadhafi forces in Beir al-Ghanam, where four rebel fighters died and eight were injured, and more than 30 of the Gadhafi forces have been killed." The battle was still ongoing Monday, but not as fierce, he said.

CNN could not independently confirm the reports.

"The rebel forces are in high sprits and determined to continue to Tripoli to get rid of Gadhafi and his collaborators. They are in high spirits and the victory is closer than ever, " al-Jiwali added.

NATO warplanes struck a rocket launcher system mounted on a government truck near the town of B'ir al Ghanam.

Three explosions could be heard in the Libyan capital late Monday morning.

"They appear closer than those heard in the past few days and week," said CNN producer Raja Razek, who is in Tripoli.

The International Criminal Court action comes a day after the African Union announced Gadhafi will not be part of its next attempt to map out a peace deal in Libya.

It was unclear who would represent the Libyan government in negotiations, or when negotiations would occur. Journalists were not allowed to ask questions at a news conference following Sunday's meeting of the African Union's special committee on Libya in Pretoria, South Africa.

Members of the committee have met with Gadhafi and opposition leaders over the past three months. Another African Union-led attempt to broker peace between Gadhafi and the rebels fell through in April.

The committee repeated calls Sunday for a cease-fire between the Libyan government and rebels.

"Only a political solution will make it possible to sustainably settle the current conflict," the statement said.

It also urged NATO to temporarily suspend its bombing campaign to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse, Yousuf Basil and Ingrid Formanek contributed to this report.

CNN

U.S. issues terror-related travel warning for Philippines

A Filipino soldier mans a checkpoint in 2010 on the island of Mindanao. The U.S. says the island is at risk of harboring terrorists.Potential terrorist activity could endanger travelers, department saysState Department: "Travelers should exercise extreme caution"New statement claims "state of emergency" in the Philippines

(CNN) -- U.S. citizens should "exercise extreme caution" when traveling to the Philippines, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday in a statement.

"Targeted sites may be public gathering places including, but not limited to, airports, shopping malls, conference centers, and other public venues," said the statement.

The warning, which is an update from November, specifies the island of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago as particularly dangerous and at great risk of harboring terrorist activity. Manila might also be included, the statement said.

Because of election-related violence, the Philippine government declared a state of emergency in November 2009 for the Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces, as well as Cotabato City in Mindanao. This state of emergency is still in effect, according to the State Department.

Travelers should be aware of heightened police and military presence in these areas and of kidnap-for-ransom gangs that are active in the Philippines and target foreigners, the department said.

Mindanao is a predominantly Muslim autonomous region, set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the Philippines, a predominantly Christian country.

Read U.S. State Department's full warning

In November 2009 at least 57 people were killed when their convoy was ambushed in Maguindanao. The former mayor of the province was accused of plotting the deaths to thwart a political rival.

The State Department issued a worldwide caution to warn U.S. citizens that terrorism can happen anywhere and urges those visiting the Philippines to register with the U.S. Embassy to be notified of emergencies, the statement said.

CNN

NY House race spotlights national spending issues (AP)

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. – The special election to fill a House seat in upstate New York was supposed to be an easy victory for Republicans.

But less than two weeks before the May 24 vote, polls show a competitive contest between Republican Jane Corwin, 47, and Democrat Kathy Hochul, 52, in what's become the first electoral test of GOP budget policies. The race also has drawn an avalanche of spending by interest groups, as well as both national parties.

"Jane Corwin said she would vote for the 2012 Republican budget that would essentially end Medicare," says a TV ad for Hochul, underscoring the degree to which the national debate in Washington is framing this race.

Corwin hits back in her own ad, saying Hochul "refuses to tell us her plan to cut the deficit."

Until recently, Democrats had all but written off the state's 26th congressional district spanning the suburban and rural communities between Rochester and Buffalo. The seat was left vacant in February, when incumbent Republican Rep. Chris Lee resigned after shirtless photos surfaced that he'd sent to a woman he'd met on Craigslist.

It's the most conservative district in New York; Republican John McCain carried it by 6 points over President Barack Obama in 2008. And it could be eliminated next year when the state loses two seats as lawmakers redraw congressional lines as required by law following the 2010 Census.

But this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would spend $250,000 on ads to help Hochul, the Erie County clerk. The campaign committee had already contributed about $100,000 to Hochul for research and other campaign operations.

The House Majority PAC, a new independent group launched to help House Democrats, announced late Friday it would also begin TV advertising to help Hochul.

The GOP isn't taking any chances. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, headlined a fundraiser for Corwin last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee has pledged to advertise and a major GOP-aligned group has gotten involved, too.

Corwin, a wealthy state assemblywoman who has lent her campaign nearly $2 million, has seen her lead in polls evaporate after endorsing the budget plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would cut billions from Medicare, the government health care plan for the elderly. Corwin has defended the proposed changes to Medicare even as members of the House GOP leadership have softened their stance on the immediacy of enacting them amid an outcry from seniors.

"This is going to be a referendum on the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it," Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the House Democratic campaign committee, told The Associated Press.

Hochul has used her television ads to hammer Corwin on Medicare and the two rivals tangled over the issue in their first televised debate Thursday.

"If we keep Medicare in the same plan we're going to run out of money by 2029," Corwin said.

Hochul argued that the Ryan plan could force seniors into poverty, adding: "It's not the American way. I won't go there."

With television ads swamping the district, several voters said they were aware of the differences between the candidates on Medicare and that the issue could affect how they vote.

"I work in a hospital and we would definitely be impacted by changes to Medicare," said Lockport resident Stephanie Douglas, an independent who was leaning toward Hochul.

And local nonprofit executive Michael Genga was urging his staunchly Republican mother to support Hochul, saying: "If Jane Corwin is supporting people who want to end Medicare, that's just way off base."

The Medicare issue aside, the race also has been complicated by the presence of a wealthy third party candidate, Jack Davis. He's a former Republican who has run for the seat three times as a Democrat and is now competing as a tea party contender. Many local tea party leaders have denounced Davis's candidacy, but he's spent heavily on the race and polls show him drawing votes away from Corwin.

Steve Greenberg, director of the Siena Poll which has conducted district surveys, said Davis's presence on the ballot had improved Democrats' chances of taking the seat.

"If Corwin can convince voters he's not the real conservative in the race, she can get them back. Or at least convince Davis voters to stay home," Greenberg said.

Republicans and independent conservative groups are trying to marginalize Davis while insisting Corwin's troubles have little to do with her support for the Ryan budget.

"This is about western New York values," Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said. He also dismissed Davis as a "political opportunist," warning, "Don't let our friends and neighbors be fooled."

The House Republican campaign committee, for its part, has seized on a video showing Davis in a dustup with a Corwin staffer and emailed it around to reporters. And Davis is the target of a major television ad campaign by American Crossroads, the independent conservative group that spent over $70 million to help Republicans reclaim the House majority in 2010. The Crossroads ad accuses Davis of trying to buy the seat.

"You can't trust Jack," the ad warns.

The race comes eighteen months after a similar New York special election in 2009 when a Democrat, Bill Owens, won a conservative upstate district in a 3-way race that split votes between the Republican and tea party candidates.

Republicans, here and in Washington, hope this race won't be a repeat.

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NY House race spotlights national spending issues (AP)

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. – The special election to fill a House seat in upstate New York was supposed to be an easy victory for Republicans.

But less than two weeks before the May 24 vote, polls show a competitive contest between Republican Jane Corwin, 47, and Democrat Kathy Hochul, 52, in what's become the first electoral test of GOP budget policies. The race also has drawn an avalanche of spending by interest groups, as well as both national parties.

"Jane Corwin said she would vote for the 2012 Republican budget that would essentially end Medicare," says a TV ad for Hochul, underscoring the degree to which the national debate in Washington is framing this race.

Corwin hits back in her own ad, saying Hochul "refuses to tell us her plan to cut the deficit."

Until recently, Democrats had all but written off the state's 26th congressional district spanning the suburban and rural communities between Rochester and Buffalo. The seat was left vacant in February, when incumbent Republican Rep. Chris Lee resigned after shirtless photos surfaced that he'd sent to a woman he'd met on Craigslist.

It's the most conservative district in New York; Republican John McCain carried it by 6 points over President Barack Obama in 2008. And it could be eliminated next year when the state loses two seats as lawmakers redraw congressional lines as required by law following the 2010 Census.

But this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would spend $250,000 on ads to help Hochul, the Erie County clerk. The campaign committee had already contributed about $100,000 to Hochul for research and other campaign operations.

The House Majority PAC, a new independent group launched to help House Democrats, announced late Friday it would also begin TV advertising to help Hochul.

The GOP isn't taking any chances. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, headlined a fundraiser for Corwin last week, the National Republican Congressional Committee has pledged to advertise and a major GOP-aligned group has gotten involved, too.

Corwin, a wealthy state assemblywoman who has lent her campaign nearly $2 million, has seen her lead in polls evaporate after endorsing the budget plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would cut billions from Medicare, the government health care plan for the elderly. Corwin has defended the proposed changes to Medicare even as members of the House GOP leadership have softened their stance on the immediacy of enacting them amid an outcry from seniors.

"This is going to be a referendum on the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it," Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the House Democratic campaign committee, told The Associated Press.

Hochul has used her television ads to hammer Corwin on Medicare and the two rivals tangled over the issue in their first televised debate Thursday.

"If we keep Medicare in the same plan we're going to run out of money by 2029," Corwin said.

Hochul argued that the Ryan plan could force seniors into poverty, adding: "It's not the American way. I won't go there."

With television ads swamping the district, several voters said they were aware of the differences between the candidates on Medicare and that the issue could affect how they vote.

"I work in a hospital and we would definitely be impacted by changes to Medicare," said Lockport resident Stephanie Douglas, an independent who was leaning toward Hochul.

And local nonprofit executive Michael Genga was urging his staunchly Republican mother to support Hochul, saying: "If Jane Corwin is supporting people who want to end Medicare, that's just way off base."

The Medicare issue aside, the race also has been complicated by the presence of a wealthy third party candidate, Jack Davis. He's a former Republican who has run for the seat three times as a Democrat and is now competing as a tea party contender. Many local tea party leaders have denounced Davis's candidacy, but he's spent heavily on the race and polls show him drawing votes away from Corwin.

Steve Greenberg, director of the Siena Poll which has conducted district surveys, said Davis's presence on the ballot had improved Democrats' chances of taking the seat.

"If Corwin can convince voters he's not the real conservative in the race, she can get them back. Or at least convince Davis voters to stay home," Greenberg said.

Republicans and independent conservative groups are trying to marginalize Davis while insisting Corwin's troubles have little to do with her support for the Ryan budget.

"This is about western New York values," Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said. He also dismissed Davis as a "political opportunist," warning, "Don't let our friends and neighbors be fooled."

The House Republican campaign committee, for its part, has seized on a video showing Davis in a dustup with a Corwin staffer and emailed it around to reporters. And Davis is the target of a major television ad campaign by American Crossroads, the independent conservative group that spent over $70 million to help Republicans reclaim the House majority in 2010. The Crossroads ad accuses Davis of trying to buy the seat.

"You can't trust Jack," the ad warns.

The race comes eighteen months after a similar New York special election in 2009 when a Democrat, Bill Owens, won a conservative upstate district in a 3-way race that split votes between the Republican and tea party candidates.

Republicans, here and in Washington, hope this race won't be a repeat.

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This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Five policy issues that could derail budget deal

The fight over funding the government for the remaining six months of fiscal year 2011 is more than an argument over dollars and cents.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is insistent that "ridiculous" policy proposals based on "ideology" sought by House Republicans will not make it into a final deal to avert a government shutdown.

But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is equally adamant. "There is no agreement, and will be no agreement on a number until everything...is resolved," he said, including the "important policy provisions," that his chamber passed in February as part of a bill to cut $61 billion in federal spending.

Here's a look at five policy issues that threaten to derail a budget compromise:

Planned Parenthood: Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., pushed through an amendment to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, as part of the House bill to cut $61 billion in spending for the rest of 2011. Eleven Democrats sided with Republicans on Pence's plan. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood would make it harder for women to get pap tests, breast exams, contraceptives, routine gynecological examinations and other services.

Health care law: The GOP-led House not only voted to repeal the nation's health care law, it also adopted several amendments that would strip government funding so President Obama's signature domestic achievement cannot be implemented. Republicans used repeal of what they call "Obamacare" as a rallying cry in the 2010 elections. Obama and congressional Democrats are unlikely to yield in budget negotiations on this one, since the president has vowed to veto any repeal effort.

Greenhouse gases and EPA: Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, pushed through an amendment to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Poe's proposal passed 249-177, with 13 Democrats backing his effort. Obama and Democrats in the Senate aren't budging. "Neither the White House nor the Senate leaders are going to accept any EPA riders they have in their bill," Reid told reporters recently.

Pell grants: House Republicans want to cut funding for these tuition grants to low- and moderate-income college students. The proposal would reduce the maximum Pell grant award by $845 and affect 9.4 million college students who receive this tuition aid, according to the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. President Obama's budget for 2012 calls for investments in higher education and ensuring students can obtain Pell grants.

Head Start: The House spending bill that passed in February would cut $1.1 billion from Head Start, which provides education, health and nutrition services to low-income children up to age 5. Reid singled out this program as one that couldn't be cut in a final budget deal when he appeared Sunday on CBS' This Morning. "We don't do it on the backs of middle-class Americans," Reid said of how to reach a budget compromise.

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