Brownback’s book recommendation

Just links today…Sam Brownback links(Philly Inquirer) Hearings for Alito likely to be tough: Cambridge University legal historian David Garrow said that unlike Roberts, whose confirmation he believed was never in doubt, Alito has a challenge ahead. … But Garrow said there was a risk for Alito as he tried to soothe the moderates. “The dicier problem for senators like Sam Brownback,” Garrow said, referring to the Kansas Republican who opposes abortion, “is that the more Alito talks about the importance of precedent… he is essentially going to talk himself into a position… where he’s going to bar himself from being able to vote against Roe v. Wade.”(Human Events Online) Books That Have Influenced Congressmen: Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Kan.) said biographies of British abolitionist William Wilberforce have impacted his thinking. An evangelical Christian, Wilberforce was known as the “Renewer of Society” for the role he took in Parliament in fighting the slave trade. “I’ve read two biographies on Wilberforce and both of them have had an impact, just because it was a study of his life,” Brownback said. “I think he faced in England some of the similar issues that we face here-a culture that needed renewal, the end of the slave trade. And I really think we need to end the killing of our babies. So, that would probably be one of them that have had the most influence on me.”(New Jersey Jewish News) Corzine’s Darfur bill passes Senate: With the killings continuing and international relief efforts faltering, the Senate last week passed the Darfur Accountability Act, which calls for international sanctions against the Sudanese government. The measure – sponsored by Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) – was actively supported by a broad spectrum of Jewish groups, including the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the American Jewish World Service.Pat Roberts links(Journal News Commentary) New York loses again on homeland security: New York and other states at high risk of terrorist attacks won’t be getting additional money for emergency first-responders despite support from President Bush, the Department of Homeland Security and the former 9/11 Commission. … Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., called the Lowey-Sweeney amendment “anti-rural.” That, despite the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that federal homeland security money be based “solely on risk and vulnerability,” not pork, and that New York City and Washington, D.C., should be at the “top of the list.”Jerry Moran links (Hutch News) Moran discusses Medicare program at veterans forum: The new Medicare prescription drug plan is raising questions among U.S. veterans, as it is with many. … U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, the organizer of the event, said at its conclusion that the confusion surrounding the Medicare plan and the need for more information is obvious. The plan allows for the selection of prescription benefits by the elderly among competing proposals – 40 alone in Kansas – and many of the questions Tuesday related back to it.Todd Tiahrt links (AP) Lawmakers helped tribes get federal money: More than a dozen members of Congress intervened to help Indian tribes win federal school construction money while accepting political donations from the tribes, their lobbyist Jack Abramoff or his firm. … Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., for instance, used Abramoff’s Signatures restaurant in Washington for a campaign fund-raiser one month after the letter, paying $2,907 for food. “The congressman has never even met Jack Abramoff. We used his facility, we got a bill and we paid the bill just like any other member of the public,” Tiahrt spokesman Chuck Knapp said.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.