Pat Roberts links (Christian Science Monitor) ‘Secret’ Senate meeting on Patriot Act: In a move that could expand the police powers in the Patriot Act, the Senate Intelligence Committee will meet behind close doors to discuss, among other things, “a little-discussed provision to enlarge the FBI’s ability to wiretap people who it suspects are national security threats.” The bill they will discuss is called the Patriot Reauthorization Act (PAREA) … (Sen. Pat) Roberts has said in the past that he needs to hold these meetings in secret because of the sensivitity of the intelligence matters being discussed.(AP) Senator offers compromise on Bolton intercepts: So far the administration has refused senators access to the names of the U.S. officials mentioned in 10 communications intercepted by the National Security Agency. That refusal was a key factor in the Senate’s vote late last month to delay Bolton’s confirmation. … The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee were allowed to see edited versions of the intercepts, with the names blocked out. Afterward, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., the committee chairman, said it was clear there was nothing improper in Bolton’s requests to see the intercepts.Sam Brownback links (Washington Post editorial) An Up-or-Down Vote? WHILE REPUBLICAN senators insist on prompt votes for every judicial nominee, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has placed a “hold” on President Bush’s nomination of Julie Finley as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. … If a filibuster is at best a controversial way of deciding policy, allowing a single senator to have effective say over whether to hold a vote on a particular presidential appointment would seem completely unacceptable.(The Nation commentary) Republicans act like addicts: And despite the president’s strong support for the zygote, Congressional Republicans defied his veto threat and voted in significant numbers to pass funding for stem cell research. This issue caused particular acrimony among Senate Republicans Sam Brownback and Arlen Specter, who nearly got into a shouting match over the issue. When Brownback haughtily asked Specter when he thought his life had begun, Specter, who has been fighting cancer, shot back, “I’m a lot more concerned at this point about when my life is going to end.”Todd Tiahrt links (Wichita Eagle) Tiahrt wants FAA to promote aviation: U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt said he will introduce legislation today that will make promotion of the aviation industry part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s duties again. The FAA used to promote aviation, but in 1996 that job was eliminated from its charter, a move that Tiahrt called a mistake. “I think we’ve lost ground. We certainly have been over-burdened with regulations,” he said Monday at a news conference at the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.