Sam Brownback(Sam Brownback commentary in the New York Sun) Keep Up the Pressure: The problem is not only that the North Korean regime possesses dangerous weapons, but also that the regime itself is unstable and dangerous. If we focus only on containing weapons programs, we will not solve the root of the problem, which is the regime itself. We should not simply treat the North Korean regime as a permanent feature of the geopolitical landscape. Instead we should set a longer-term goal to spread democracy across the entire Korean peninsula.(NAACP press release) Voting Our Values, Valuing Our Votes: Several thousand delegates and visitors from around the nation are expected to attend the 97th Annual National Association for the Advancement of Colored People National Convention, July 15-20 at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center. This marks the seventh time the NAACP has held its annual convention in the nation’s capital. The theme of this year’s convention is “Voting Our Values, Valuing Our Votes.” … Speakers scheduled at this year’s convention include Senators Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sam Brownback,Pat Roberts(Denver Post commentary) End U.S. ag handouts to non-farmers: Ten years ago, Republicans celebrated their newly won control of Congress by passing a sweeping farm bill designed to phase out 60 years of crop subsidies and “get the government out of agriculture.” Best laid plans, and all that. Today the new policy is in ruins, imposing a $170 billion burden on taxpayers over the past decade without even embodying the few merits of the New Deal-style subsidies that the so-called “Freedom to Farm” bill was supposed to replace. … In 1996, then-Rep. (now senator) Pat Roberts of Kansas proposed the current law, in which the government would start paying farmers a fixed amount per acre of land if those lands had grown subsidized crops in the past. Those cash payments were quite separate from crops actually produced – if any. The grants were supposed to be gradually halved over seven years, then totally eliminated – leaving farmers free to follow market dictates, not federal rules.(Federal News Radio) Intelligence Panel Pushes For Better Access: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence ordered the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency to arrive at an agreement by the end of August to extend access to NSA’s databases to more DIA analysts. If some sort of deal is not reached by the deadline, Technology Daily reports, the committee plans to seek stronger measures in the intelligence authorization act for fiscal 2007. Panel Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in a report that the committee is concerned that the intelligence community is not sharing enough raw information throughout its branches.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.