U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is listed in a new report about senators and representatives who have taken big trips payed for by special interests.Stephen Baxter, writing on Phillyburbs.com, says Roberts has taken one of the most expensive trips of any American law maker since Jan. 1, 2000. “Overall, U.S. senators and representatives took 4,851 trips costing a total of $14.4 million in that period, according to an analysis by the Medill News Service, American Public Media’s Marketplace program and American RadioWorks. Senators took 1,071 trips, while House members took 3,781, the analysis found. “The House and Senate allow sponsored trips if they’re part of official duties and if lawmakers disclose where they went, the amount they spent, and who sponsored the trip. Senate rules limit domestic trips to three days and international trips to seven days, excluding travel time.”Roberts took the third most-expensive trip by a senator during the analysis period, the story said, following an Edward Kennedy jaunt to Paris paid for by L’Oreal and an Olympia Snowe trip to Greece, paid for by the American College of Greece.”Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who traveled last year to England with his wife to give a speech, paid for by the Ripon Educational Fund ($19,312).”This link to American Radioworks shows the Ripon Educational Fund sponsored 59 trips by lawmakers.And what is Ripon?According to The Ripon Society’s Web site, the group is an “organization not formally affiliated with the Republican Party, but rather, informally seeking to be its conscience.” Roberts is a member of the organization’s board.Intelligence watchMeanwhile, reform of the nation’s intelligence agencies seems to be going forward without Roberts, according to The Hill.”The Senate effort to reform the nation’s intelligence community has gone forward largely without the input of Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who as chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence is, at least by title, the chamber’s leading authority on intelligence. “Defenders of the bill said that Roberts and other representatives of the intelligence panel were allowed to share their views fully on how to revamp intelligence and that just because those views did not find their way into the reform bill doesn’t mean they were ignored. “Nevertheless, Roberts and other members of his committee said they were left on the sidelines during crucial work on an issue over which they have primary jurisdiction. “The upshot is that the reform bill pending on the Senate floor does not go far enough to restructure the nation’s intelligence agencies to avoid intelligence failures such as those that preceded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in the view of Roberts and other lawmakers on the Senate intelligence panel.” Other links:Sam Brownback linksQuietly, the right shapes its agenda Senator from Kansas speaks at conventionPat Roberts linksChanges in Store for Senate Leaders Boeing ‘gift’ puts woman in prisonJim Ryun linksGeneration Joshua leaving lasting mark Churches a good place to round up votesTodd Tiahrt linksRevision of Pro-Abortion Lincoln Memorial Video Draws CriticismHow to contactAs always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.