The Senate is headed for a showdown over stem cells today, and Sen. Sam Brownback is right in the middleo f the fray:Gannett News Service reports:_ Congress and the Bush administration are heading toward their first veto fight as the Senate prepares for a vote that would lift the administration’s limits on federally funded research on human embryos. __The bill, which already has passed the House, would give medical researchers access to surplus frozen embryos from fertility clinics, donated by couples who no longer need them for fertility treatments. The president cut off federal funding for most embryonic research shortly after he took office in 2001.__One of the alternate bills would ban the nonexistent practice of “fetal farming” — removing embryos from women’s wombs for medical research. The other, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., would mandate that the National Institutes of Health focus its research dollars on cures from adult stem cells. All three bills are likely to pass. The House could vote on the two new Senate stem cell bills as early as Wednesday of next week._McClatchy Newspapers adds: _The bill’s opponents say no progress should come at the expense of human life, and they say that’s what an embryo is.__”We can’t use humans as lab rats,” said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who’s a leading opponent of embryonic stem cell research. “You’re researching on young humans. You let that human grow, he becomes a full-scale person by anybody’s definition.”_Sam BrownbackNews From Agape Press: Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback says nations need to unite to isolate North Korea, including its allies; he claims nearby nations, “especially China and South Korea should end unconditional assistance to North Korea.” Brownback is among many in Congress who feel the time has come for the U.S. to get tough in terms of its foreign policy and dealings with Kim Jong Il’s Communist government. Meanwhile, he notes, there are other things the U.S. needs to do. “We should continue to build our missile capacity — missile defense capacity,” the senator says.(JTA.org) Senate urges Russia to protect religious communities: The U.S. Senate passed a resolution urging Russia to protect the freedom of its religious communities. The resolution comes against the backdrop of rising levels of anti-Semitism in Russia, according to a release from the office of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights internationally. “While we recognize that religious freedom has advanced significantly for the Russian people since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I am concerned by sporadic yet consistent reports of local government harassment and uninvestigated assaults against religious groups,” Brownback said. (Catholic News Service) Diverse faiths joining effort to pursue broad immigration fixes: Jewish, evangelical, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic speakers at the July 12 conference in Washington all pointed to various parts of Scripture as the basis for faith traditions that support the right of people to migrate and that call believers to treat “the stranger” as a valued member of society. But Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said he has seen little evidence of that being raised in the ongoing debate. “I don’t think there’s a theological perspective” being effectively brought into discussions about pending immigration legislation, he said. “That’s not in the debate.” Brownback, a Catholic, encouraged the religious leaders at the conference to jump into the “big, noisy debate” about immigration law and policy.”It needs lots of voices,” he said, particularly those offering a moral perspective.(KC Star) Cleaver at odds with other clergy, other lawmakers: Others who share Cleaver’s deep faith disagree with him on gay marriage. Congress required Utah to renounce Mormon-sanctioned polygamy before it became a state in 1896, said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican. Brownback, a devout Roman Catholic, led the fight in the Senate for the marriage amendment. “I would rather we not be involved in it,” Brownback said of the issue. “But it has such enormous cultural and societal impact, I don’t think there’s a way of us avoiding it. It would be wrong if we did. It’s a foundational thing that you’re building a culture and a society on. I wish it weren’t that way.”Voting Rights Act(AP) House votes to extend Voting Rights Act: The House of Representatives voted 390-33 to extend the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. Kansas Republicans Jerry Moran and Jim Ryun and Democrat Dennis Moore all voted in favor of renewing the act. Republican Todd Tiahrt did not vote on the measure.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.