LJWorld Reader blogs

Here are today's headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:

Sen. Pat Roberts (R)

(The Hill) Roberts open to leaving Senate Intelligence panel: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said yesterday that he is awaiting a decision from Republican leadership on whether he will remain on the Intelligence Committee after relinquishing the gavel or leave the panel for a new assignment.... "I am perfectly willing and consider it a privilege to continue as [top Republican on the panel]," Roberts said yesterday. "On the other hand, if some other committee spot were to come open that would enable me to [work for Kansas interests]," a change in assignments would be foreseeable. Where Roberts might land once Senate Minority Leader-to-be Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his team announce their committee lineups is another much-discussed question. While Roberts could secure new benefits for Kansas during next year's farm bill rewrite by reasserting his seniority on the Agriculture Committee, which he chaired in the 1990s, an Agriculture Committee spokesman said current Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) plans to remain as ranking member in the 110th Congress. Roberts acknowledged "all sorts of rumors" about the coming GOP committee shuffle but said that the outcome was still unresolved.

Iraq Study Group

(The Hill) Dems seize on Iraq report: The Iraq Study Group yesterday released its long-awaited counsel for major shifts in U.S. war strategy, gratifying Democrats who built electoral victories on a call for change in Iraq and leaving the new majority ready to put pressure on the president, rather than congressional Republicans. ... Though President Bush and his advisers have subtly downplayed the impact of the report in recent days, party politics did not stop many lawmakers from urging that Bush seriously consider the group's findings. "The decision has to be made by the president," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who hailed the consensus reached by the evenly split 10-member study group. "Democrats and Republicans actually got together. : It serves as a good example for Congress to go forward."

(LJW) Kansans weigh in on proposals: U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., expressed hope that the commission's recommendations would, eventually, lead to stability in the region and for U.S. troops. He hoped the plan would mark "the beginning of an honest and productive debate" within the U.S. government and abroad, Moore said. ... U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said also that the report was a "welcome contribution," but that any action the administration takes on the report's recommendations must ensure "the defeat of terrorists in Iraq and nurture democracy and stability."

(Topeka Capital-Journal) Kansas politicos see hope in report: Nancy Boyda, the Democrat who will succeed Ryun in January to represent the 2nd Congressional District in eastern Kansas, said, "I'm glad we're finally recognizing that we need to move in a new direction. We have known for quite a while that things are worse off than we had been led to believe." She said Americans need to be reminded that "this was not a failure of our military." Still, she said, she was realistic in anticipating hard work over the next six months to improve the situation. ... Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who represents the 1st District, which covers much of the western half of the state, was pleased the study group acknowledged that "the status quo is unacceptable." "The report correctly calls for the Iraqis to take more responsibility for their country's security so we can bring our U.S. servicemen and -women home," he said.

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R)

(AP) Tiahrt loses race to head conservative group: Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt on Wednesday lost his bid to become chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of about 100 conservative lawmakers who try to influence the GOP agenda. Tiahrt's loss to Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling by a vote of 57-42 signals that the group wants to pursue a more aggressive tone in promoting its conservative priorities. While Tiahrt's conservative credentials are not in question, his membership on the House Appropriations Committee bothered some Republican Study Committee members, who questioned whether a lawmaker in charge of spending would be assertive enough in pushing for fiscal discipline.