Sam Brownback links (CNN) Specter, White House at odds over Miers’ views: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Monday that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers told him in a private meeting that she believed the 1965 case of Griswold vs. Connecticut — a landmark ruling establishing the right to privacy — was “rightly decided.”… At a private meeting earlier this month with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, a leading congressional foe of abortion rights, Miers declined to give a position on Griswold, according to Brownback, who expressed frustration about the lack of clarity. “She did not take a position on it, nor did she say she would take a position on it, nor did she think it appropriate to have a position on it,” Brownback said.(Washington Post) The Conservative Machine’s Unexpected Turn: But without their normal allies, White House officials are focusing on senators themselves. While some Republican senators have expressed qualms about Miers, the White House is counting on its ability to hold its caucus together. Bush allies in New Hampshire and Iowa are starting to pressure Republicans who want to run for president in 2008, such as Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.), to back Miers(Agape Press) Commentary & News Briefs: Opponents are hoping to remove an amendment from a bill which makes “sexual orientation” a protected status subject to hate crimes prosecution. The amendment was tacked onto the Child Safety Act, which passed the House of Representatives. The measure is now in the U.S. Senate, and Kansas Republican Sam Brownback is not sure about its future. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to that bill],” the Kansas lawmaker admits. “That’s been an issue of great contention, and my thought is that over a period of time that the hate crimes provision portions [of the Act] will in all likelihood be taken out.”Todd Tiahrt links [(The Hill) Bono winces, but money chase goes on: The Irish rock band U2 is doing its best to disassociate itself from members of Congress’s plans to use the group’s 2005 world tour to raise money, but the band remains a political cash cow. … Koch Industries is hosting Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who sold 18 tickets at $1,500 each or $2,500 per pair, said Tiahrt spokesman Chuck Knapp. The tickets cost more than $160 each.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.