Sam Brownback links(AP) Possible candidates take positions on Iraq: Republican senators weighing a 2008 presidential bid united behind President Bush’s Iraq policy, while potential Democratic candidates favored troop withdrawals but split over a deadline for ending the U.S. military’s combat presence. “We cannot pull out and hope for the best,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calling redeployments now “a significant step on the road to disaster.” Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., likewise dismissed a timetable: “We have to see this through to a successful conclusion.”(Catholic Sentinel) Legislator takes reins against assisted suicide: Only a few politicos paid attention last month when Sen. Sam Brownback held a hearing on the way doctor-assisted suicide impacts society. No legislation emerged from the session. None is forthcoming this year. Major news media did not pick up on the item until weeks later. But during that May 25 meeting of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, those who oppose Oregon’s controversial experiment met their new legislative champion. Since the 2003 retirement of Sen. Don Nickles, the Catholic Republican from Oklahoma, it was not clear who would step in as chief opponent of assisted suicide. Brownback, a Kansas Republican and a convert to Catholicism, left little doubt that he has taken up Nickles’ mantle.(Voice of America) New Stem Cell Treatment Provides Hope for Paralyzed Humans: David Prentice of the Family Research Council acknowledges, “There’s a lot of science yet to be done to say whether embryonic cells] will ever be any good to treat a patient.” At a news conference in Washington recently, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback said more research into the use of adult stem cells and cord blood is needed. “Several of these patients had to go overseas to get their treatment. They shouldn’t have to do that.” Related Brownback/stem cell links [(KaiserNetwork.org) Brownback Holds News Conference To Highlight Successes of Adult, Umbilical Cord Stem Cells (Focus on the Family)Brownback Wants Senate to Debate Bioethics Before Stem-Cell Vote (Catholic News Service) Patients said to offer stem-cell solution ‘we can all live with’Pat Roberts links(AP) Japan beef deal still in the cooker, U.S. cautions: U.S. beef shipments to Japan could resume within weeks under a new agreement, but the Bush administration cautioned Wednesday that the deal to restore trade interrupted by Japanese mad-cow disease concerns could still fall through. … U.S. lawmakers, impatient for trade to resume, have threatened sanctions unless Japan’s market reopens by Aug. 31. A bipartisan group of senators held a news conference Wednesday to push forward with tariffs. “Until there is a specific date for actual trade to resume, and product is at port in Japan, it’s not a done deal,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.(LA Times) Senators Face Off Over 2 Iraq Pullout Plans: Democrats and Republicans dueled over the Iraq war in the Senate on Wednesday, exchanging rhetorical jabs as each side sought political advantage on a debate many strategists believed could be a decisive factor in determining which party would control Congress after the November elections. … On Wednesday, Republicans in the Senate also asserted that the operation in Iraq was essential to fighting terrorism. “There is no exit from Iraq or the global war on terror except success,” said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation here.