August is almost over

August is about over. Time to get back to work in Washington D.C. ….Sam Brownback links (Washington Times) US stem cell debate looms in Senate: Stem-cell research and cloning developments likely will be heated topics of conversation in the Senate this fall, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist — who now wants to expand President Bush’s embryonic stem-cell policy — will continue to push for a debate and a vote this year. … Mrs. Call said Mr. Frist wants the Senate to debate not only that bill, but a number of other research-related bills, including a ban on all forms of human cloning being pushed by Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican. (Cato Institute commentary) First, Defuse the Bomb in North Korea: Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution and Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute are among those who demand that the United States add North Korea’s human rights practices and the issue of regime “transformation” to the list of topics the next round of six-party talks must address. Congressional passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act last year points to a similar strategy. That approach would be a profound mistake.(Knight Ridder) Scientists create hybrid cell: Cowan and his team of scientists at Harvard have fused skin cells with embryonic stem cells to create a hybrid cell. The new cell can be “reprogrammed” to become a different kind of cell. … The breakthrough has political significance as well, because it could provide a way to conduct stem cell research without using human embryos. It is already being hailed by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and others who view the destruction of embryos as terminating human life.Pat Robert links (Washington Times) Iraq violence will rise, Bush says: Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the administration has been preparing for a spike in violence, but told CNN that he doubted the end result would be civil war. “It’s going to be a major public relations effort, and that’s the nicest way I can put it — or campaign — to sell this,” Mr. Roberts said. “Although, once the Sunnis really take a look at this and say, all right, there have been some concessions here and they punted on the federalism, either this, or civil war? My word, I would think they would take this.”Todd Tiahrt links (Wichita Eagle) Hastert breezes in, passes plate, breezes out: Touch down, raise cash, fly out: U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., spent less time in Wichita on Thursday than he normally does during his biennial visits. But measured in dollars per minute, this trip may have been his most successful. Hastert, the highest-ranking Republican in the House, raised about $169,000 headlining a fundraising luncheon for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, at the Wichita Airport Hilton.(AP) EagleForce database helped BTK detectives in hunt for serial killer: Technology that helped crack the BTK case could be put into wider use after impressing authorities involved in the intense manhunt for the serial killer. U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt is seeking $3 million to fund a pilot project to work on cold cases using a similar computer system.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.