Posted by Joel Mathis August 18, 2006 at 9:13 a.m.

Brownback: Stem cells are "lead social issue" of the day

The Sam Brownback media profiles continue.This time it's [U.S News & World Report][1] that takes a crack at the Kansas senator - and possible candidate for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination - in a Q&A format.Some highlights: What compassionate conservatism means for immigration reform:You have to look at every person as a sacred child of a living God. It doesn't matter if they're in a womb, in a city, where they are. This has been a tough debate within our party, about how do you take the compassionate agenda when it goes up against the law-and-order agenda. Whether we can get comprehensive immigration reform with border security first out of this Congress is probably 50-50 at best.When it comes to possible advances through stem cell research, how do you weigh the life of a cancer patient with a life in a petri dish that might be discarded?You've got to make the determination "is this a life or is it property?" Some would argue the life in a petri dish is property and should be treated as such. I don't think you can do that. Just like you can't take a death penalty argument-you can get a death row inmate, harvest his organs, and save 10 lives. And we're galled by that. We'd say, "What are you talking about?" And people say, "He's going to be killed anyway." It galls us. This is the lead social issue of our day.The House just passed a bill to strip federal courts of jurisdiction in cases involving the "one nation under God" wording in the pledge. A good idea?_I support the judicial stripping, regrettably. It's a blunt instrument approach to something that the courts should do themselves, which is show judicial restraint. If the court doesn't show restraint, you'll see more Congresses using this approach. I don't think it's good, but you've got these tectonic plates pushing against each other._Other links today:Sam Brownback[(Genocide Intervention Network) Congress Falls Short in Effort to End Darfur Genocide:][2] The first-ever "scorecard" grading Congress on its efforts to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, shows that a large majority of legislators have failed to follow through with a unanimous congressional resolution in 2004 calling for an end to the genocide. ... In the Senate, Sens. Sam Brownback and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) earned an "A-plus" for their efforts on behalf of Darfur. Eleven other senators also received this grade for their efforts.[(Des Moines Register) Brownback will decide on '08 run this year:][3] U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback joined the parade of prospective 2008 presidential candidates at the Iowa State Fair this week, saying he would make a decision about his White House plans before the end of the year. Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said Thursday that he will decide to run if his message fits with what he sees as the political mood of the country. "I'm a big believer that the presidency is decided by the right person with the right message at the right moment," said Brownback, who succeeded former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole in 1996. "And those things have to line up for it to happen."Pat Roberts[(GovExec.com) Judge rules against NSA eavesdropping program:][4] A federal court in Michigan said Thursday that the National Security Agency cannot keep monitoring telephone calls and e-mails of millions of Americans without warrants. ... The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has held public and closed-door hearings about NSA e-surveillance, was reviewing the ruling, but committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was unavailable for comment, a spokeswoman said.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][5] [1]: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060816/16brownback.htm [2]: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=70891 [3]: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/NEWS09/608180374/1001/NEWS [4]: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0806/081706tdpm1.htm [5]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed