Here are today’s headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Rep. Dennis Moore (D)!(LJWorld.com) Anti-war sentiment growing: In a way, a group of anti-war protesters Thursday in downtown Lawrence got a boost before they even started. U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Lenexa, whose district includes eastern Lawrence, came out against President Bush’s plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Baghdad and western Iraq. … Moore’s office released a statement Thursday afternoon. “I was hopeful that President Bush would understand that the American people are ready for a new direction with our involvement in Iraq. Unfortunately, the president’s new strategy is more of the same,” the statement said.Sen. Pat Roberts (R)!(MedicalNewsToday.com) House Set To Vote On Medicare Bill To Negotiate Lower Drug Prices: President Bush is likely to veto the Democrat-led Medicare reform bill to negotiate lower drug prices if it is passed in the House today. … The Medicare legislation, known as the “HR4 Bi-partisan Bill to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices”, if passed, would require the federal government, as represented by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, to intervene in negotiations between insurers and drug companies. The current law does not allow this. Democrats say that doing this would result in better deals, using the bulk purchasing power of Medicare which subsizes the private insurance on prescription drugs to seniors and disabled people. … Senator Pat Roberts, a Republican from Kansas was also at the hearing. He said he didn’t know how the government was supposed to negotiate other than “smothering people with the milk of human kindness” alluding to the fact that it would have insufficient leverage to be effective above the competition pressure that already exists.Rep. Nancy Boyda (D)!(Topeka Capital-Journal) Group lobbies to lower student loan rates: The event came as Congress is expected to consider slashing in half interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans, which go to low and middle-income students. The House is expected to vote on the issue next week. … By slashing interest rates to 3.4 percent from the current 6.8 percent over five years, students could save $4,420 over the life of those loans. … Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., said she planned to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill. “Together, we can unleash the power of higher education to transform the lives of today’s students,” she said in a statement handed out at the news conference. “Today, we can make college more affordable.”Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R)!(Kansas.com commentary) Tiahrt says he wanted GOP’s minimum wage hike: Constituents of Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, may wonder why he was the only member of the Kansas delegation to vote against increasing the minimum wage — something that 89 percent of Americans support, according to a Newsweek poll. The measure passed the House Wednesday on a bipartisan 315-116 vote; Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, was among the 82 Republicans in favor. In a statement, Tiahrt said that he supports raising the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour, as Democrats propose. But he wants the increase linked to tax relief and affordable health insurance provisions for small businesses, as Republicans propose. “I am disappointed that House Democrats failed the American worker and small businesses,” Tiahrt said.