Not so sure

Sen. Sam Brownback wants answers.Though the nomination of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court appears to have the support of most pro-life Republicans, Brownback – a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee – said Wednesday he’s a little more hesitant.The fear, apparently, is that Roberts is a Souter in conservative’s clothing.The Kansas City Star reports: “Sen. Sam Brownback isn’t sold on John G. Roberts, Jr. just yet. Not by a long shot. … ‘In the past, we’ve seen that if someone is not well articulated on a position, the tendency is to move left on the bench,’ Brownback said, citing Justice David Souter as an example. Even so, Brownback doesn’t have much company among conservatives in publicly questioning Roberts’ nomination.”Knight Ridder adds: “When he appeared before the committee two years ago, Roberts declined to answer a series of questions from (Sen. Charles) Schumer about whether he agreed with past court decisions and where he would place current justices on an ideological spectrum. … “Roberts’ views on abortion also drew the attention of at least one anti-abortion member of the Judiciary Committee – Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan, who said he would once again want to know if Roberts believes Roe v. Wade is, indeed, settled law.”‘It was appropriate at the time (of his first confirmation hearing), but I’m sure that issue will be vetted more clearly now that this is for a Supreme Court position where interpretations of the law – where there is more latitude on that,’ Brownback said. ‘At this point in time I’m not comfortable’ with his answer.”LATE ADDITION: Here is a transcript of Brownback’s interview with evangelist Pat Robertson on the issue.The Big First TownHall.com reports: “Kansas Republican Congressman Jerry Moran is considering a run for governor, and already potential candidates for the would-be vacated 1st congressional district seat are lining up. “Rob Wasinger, 33, could be considered the leading conservative candidate for the seat. Wasinger has made a solid reputation for himself both in Kansas and in Washington, DC amongst conservatives of all types. “As Chief of Staff to Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, Wasinger has been instrumental in helping the Senator craft pro-life legislation that has more often than not been on the cutting edge of pro-life initiatives. He has been involved in legislation banning cloning and chimera research, promoting cord-blood research and others. As such, he has won the praise of many of the pro-life community’s most influential people.”Other links:Sam Brownback links (News-Medical.Net) Sale of abortion-pill threatened by U.S. lawmakers: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new warning this week regarding the abortion pill RU-486 following the deaths of five women taking it, from bacterial infections. But several conservative lawmakers are saying that this is inadequate, and want sales of the abortion pill halted until a further safety review has been conducted. Republican Senators Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback of Kansas and David Vitter have joined forces to back new legislation.Pat Roberts links (Wisconsin Ag Connection) Senate Panel: U.S. Food Supply Still Vulnerable to Attack: An attack on America’s food supply using biological agents or disease is easy to do, would spread fast and have a devastating economic effect, a Senate committee heard on Wednesday, as it reviewed protection for U.S. agriculture. “In the case of foot-and-mouth disease it takes little scientific training,” Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told the Agriculture Committee hearing. “You put a handkerchief under a diseased animal in Afghanistan, put it in a zip-lock bag, put it in your suitcase, come to the United States and drop it in any one of our feed lots. And we’re in a lot of trouble.”How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.