Sam Brownback links (The Hill) GOP hopefuls getting more time to weigh stem-cell vote: Republican senators, including several presidential hopefuls, will have more time to weigh their options on embryonic-stem-cell research now that Senate leaders have put off a vote on a House bill until next year. … “The vote in the House to allow taxpayer-funded destruction of young human lives is deeply troubling,” Brownback said. “We all have a duty to protect the innocent, and this vote represents a failure to recognize the scientific fact that stem-cell research that destroys embryos kills young human children.”(NewsMax) Sen. Brownback: Spend Iran Democracy Money: Six months after announcing a plan to give $3 million to promote democracy in Iran, the U.S. State Department has yet to release the funds, says a USA Today report. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who put the $3 million in the budget, expressed frustration: “This money should be made available immediately for those seeking to express their opposition to the hard-line Islamic government and to promote internationally recognized human rights.”(Christian Broadcasting Network) Senators on Both Sides Still Confounded by Miers: The seats are empty now. There is just silence in the room. But that will all change when Miers enters on November 7. To say that she has been controversial is an understatement. Democrats do not know what to make of her. But far worse is that Republicans have similar concerns. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) remarked, “We don’t know the nominee:what this person will or won’t do.”(Democracy Arsenal commentary) Bush’s presidency ends … and our challenge begins: Second terms are often seen by the political class as a countdown to the next campaign, and as such, this one is going to be defined by an historical anomaly: because neither Cheney nor anyone from Bush’s Cabinet is running, the next election will be the first truly open campaign in 56 years. … Many of the Republicans thinking seriously about running in 2008 (including two of the most formidable, George Allen and Sam Brownback) have begun to tack away, and as we get closer to the 2006 midterms, when Republican members of Congress are going to be increasingly worried about reelection and unwilling to defend a lame-duck President, this will only get worse.(Washington Examiner) Arguing for children with disabilities: In Roberts’ confirmation hearings last month, Brownback took the opportunity to argue directly for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But that was to be expected; anti-abortion politicians say such things all the time. What made Brownback’s argument against Roe notable was that he brought with him one Abby Loy, a pretty 14-year-old girl with Down syndrome. “We want to celebrate her,” Brownback said. He also devoted some of his time to speaking about Jimmy, a man with Down syndrome who runs one of the Senate elevators.Pat Roberts links (Western Farm Press) Senate Ag Committee approves spending cuts of $3.054 billion: After Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss asked for a roll call vote on the legislation, the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005, the tally was nine for and nine against with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., passing. Chambliss told Roberts, who had co-sponsored an amendment offered by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to block the extension of the MILC program, that he had the deciding vote. Roberts, hesitating, said, “I don’t want the Budget Committee to write this bill,” before casting his vote with Chambliss for the proposal. (The Crapo amendment was one of four offered to the reconciliation bill; all were defeated.)(The American Prospect commentary) Whatever happened to Pat Roberts’ Phase II intelligence report? In February 2004, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSCI) announced that it had unanimously agreed to expand its investigation of prewar Iraq intelligence from focus on intelligence community blunders and into the more controversial area of “whether intelligence was exaggerated or misused” by U.S. government officials. … Republican committee staffers don’t deny that Roberts lacks enthusiasm for Phase II. But they insist that he hasn’t acted to kill the investigation, and that the last interviews needed to complete it are being wrapped up. Ultimately, they say, it will be up to the committee’s members to vote on whether or not to release a report.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.