Sam Brownback links(JTA.org) Senators press Lithuania on cemetery desecration: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.