Here are today’s headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Sen. Sam Brownback (R) !(New York Times) Senator Removes His Block on Federal Court Nominee: Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who blocked the confirmation of a woman to the federal bench because she attended a same-sex commitment ceremony for the daughter of her long-time neighbors, says he will now allow a vote on the nomination. Mr. Brownback, who has been criticized for blocking the nomination, said he would also no longer press a proposed solution he offered on Dec. 8 that garnered even more criticism: that he would remove his block if Judge Neff agreed to recuse herself from all cases involving same-sex unions. In an interview last week, Mr. Brownback said that he still believed Judge Neff’s behavior raised serious questions about her impartiality and that he was likely to vote against her. But he said he did not realize his proposal – asking a nominee to agree in advance to remove herself from deciding a whole category of cases – was so unusual as to be possibly unprecedented. Legal scholars said it raised constitutional questions of separation of powers for a senator to demand that a judge commit to behavior on the bench in exchange for a vote.Sen. Pat Roberts (R)!(49abcnews) Kansas Senator in talks with NFL Commissioner: With only ten days left until Kansas State’s match-up with 16th-ranked Rutgers in the Texas Bowl, there are still many fans who won’t even get to watch the game. But that might be changing soon. Kansas Senator Pat Roberts has called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, urging him to allow Kansans to be able to view the broadcast on the NFL Network without having to buy the channel or upgrade their cable system.(CattleNetwork.com) KLA: Roberts Stands Behind Beef Industry In Trade Dispute: U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is part of a group of senators urging U.S. officials to suspend free trade agreement negotiations with South Korea until the market is fully open to U.S. beef. The proposed trade agreement with South Korea falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, which Roberts will join next month, enabling him to play a pivotal role in the matter. At issue is South Korea ‘s rejection of the first three shipments of U.S. beef. Each contained extremely small bone fragments not considered at risk for carrying the BSE agent.Etc.(Government Health IT) It’s Round Two for e-health records banks bills: Bills to establish independent e-health record banks regulated by the federal government will be introduced again in the new Congress, and backers are more optimistic about action on the bills the second time around. The bills, known as the Independent Health Records Banks Act, were introduced this year in the Senate by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and in the House by Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). At a Capitol Hill briefing this month, David Kendall, senior fellow for health policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, said the same sponsors will introduce similar bills, with some modifications, in 2007.