Posted by Joel Mathis February 23, 2006 at 7:38 a.m.

Congressional potpourri

Sam Brownback links[(JTA.org) Senators press Lithuania on cemetery desecration:][1] U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) called on Lithuania to halt the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The senators, members of the Helsinki Commission, a congressional body monitoring European anti-Semitism, wrote a letter to Lithuania's ambassador, Vygaudas Usackas, on the issue.[(Newhouse News) Hands Across the Aisle? Not Often, Say Members of Congress:][2] Lawmakers say ... opportunities to work on meaningful measures that draw interest in both parties are increasingly limited. "It's very hard these days," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a conservative who is working with Democrats on several bills. "You've got to find topics with real needs and not a whole lot of political value associated with them.[(Wichita Eagle) Brownback lectures on marriage, Africa:][3] MANHATTAN - Sen. Sam Brownback told students here Wednesday about a college freshman with a 4-inch afro who rode into town in a blue Ford F-100. The hairdo was big enough that he didn't even need a pillow, Brownback said. That kid went on to become the Kansas State University student president, a state agriculture commissioner and a U.S. senator. And when Brownback returned to his alma mater 32 years later -- this time wearing a gray suit and a conservative hairstyle -- he was introduced as a person who has presidential ambitions of a bigger sort. In his 30-minute Landon Lecture, the Republican senator touched on issues such as encouraging marriage and aid to Africa.[(Topeka Capital-Journal) Secret court sought:][4] MANHATTAN -- After delivering a Landon Lecture on Wednesday, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., advocated for a secret court that would monitor communications made within the United States to suspected terrorists abroad. A court composed of "people appointed by the president, approved by the Senate" would be one step toward maintaining public support in the war on terrorism, he said.Todd Tiahrt links[(The Hill) Showdown over ports:][5] As the House Speaker joined the Senate and House majority leaders' call for oversight and a possible block of the port-management handover, Bush told reporters gathered on Air Force One that he would veto any bill obstructing the deal with the Dubai-based company. Other members criticizing the hastiness of the CFIUS approval yesterday included Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.), who signed on to the King-Schumer bill; Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.); House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.); Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.); and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.).How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][6] [1]: http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=1479 [2]: http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/mccutcheon022206.html [3]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/13939494.htm [4]: http://www.cjonline.com/stories/022306/kan_brownback.shtml [5]: http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/022206/news1.html [6]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed