Posted by Joel Mathis August 14, 2006 at 6:47 a.m.

Roberts: U.S. both lucky and good in avoiding terror attacks

Sen. Pat Roberts appeared Sunday on CBS' ["Face The Nation,"][1] to talk about last week's foiled attack on U.S.-bound airplanes and other terror topics.Some excerpts from the transcript:PELLEY: Senator, let me start with you. Is there any chance that Osama bin Laden directed this plot?Sen. ROBERTS: Oh, there's always a chance, but I think this probably was one of these things that was inspired by him as opposed to guided by him. And this gets into the real problem that we face today. I was over in Great Britain about three weeks ago and met with our counterparts on the intelligence side, and they were very worried about the second-generation situation there with the Pakistanis--400,000 of them in London, two million in Great Britain, and a lot of problems there.PELLEY: Senator Roberts, the Bush administration says that we're safer than we were five years ago, but it doesn't necessarily feel that way.Sen. ROBERTS: It doesn't feel that way because you have 31 terrorist organizations, by latest account, that could be doing things like this. But let's give the intelligence committee some credit. I think if we were having this interview several years ago, you would have never thought that we would have worked with the Pakistanis, with the British and with ourselves and kept the whole situation from being leaked, and then let the--let the Brits really lead the way. And give the Pakistanis real credit. They stepped up to this and stepped up in the right way, and we had better information access, better cooperation, and we foiled the plot. Now, that's what we have to do in the future.PELLEY: Senator Roberts, the fact that we haven't been attacked in this country in five years, is it because we're that lucky or because we're that good?Sen. ROBERTS: Well, probably both. But we are much better prepared; we have much better information access. The passage of the Patriot Act, we are going through a challenge in the Congress in regards to, as I say, some of the intelligence tools in our toolbox. By the way, the British have better tools. If you want to get a warrant, all you have to do is call up a minister in regards to to Great Britain. I'm not advocating that in the United States with the FISA court or anything else, but it seems to me that they have taken actions that would really speed that along.Other links todayJerry Moran[(Wichita Eagle) Government dollars help turn farm country green:][2] Last week, the U.S. Agriculture Department issued a paper arguing for increased biofuels requirements for motorists and extending ethanol and biodiesel tax breaks, along with new incentives for solar and wind energy. On Capitol Hill, a "25x25" initiative to get one-quarter of American energy from renewable fuels by 2025 has broad support across the Midwest -- Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, signed on, along with the entire South Dakota delegation, two-thirds of North Dakota's, and several lawmakers from other farm states. The Kansas Legislature has also signed on, as has Sebelius, who chairs the Governors' Ethanol Coalition.Todd Tiahrt[(Wichita Eagle) Is Tiahrt safe in race against an unknown?][3] With political unknown Garth McGinn taking on six-term Rep. Todd Tiahrt this fall, can 4th Congressional District Democrats party like it's 1994? McGinn, a senior systems engineer with LSI Logic, had to wait an extra week for provisional ballots to be counted before officially defeating Ron Voth of Halstead and becoming the Democrats' candidate against Tiahrt, R-Goddard. Beating a better-known, better-funded opponent isn't unknown in the 4th -- the last guy to do it was Tiahrt, who first won election in the 1994 Republican landslide that took the party to congressional control for the first time in 40 years. National polls and pundits point to a possible repeat performance this year, as voter discontent is heavily favoring Democrats. Could McGinn do it? As the saying goes, history repeats itself... until it doesn't. How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][4] [1]: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/19/ftn/main1419437.shtml [2]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/15261986.htm [3]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/local/15261970.htm [4]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed