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Posted by Joel Mathis March 15, 2007 at 9:18 a.m.

Roberts still backing Iraq - but with limits

Here are today's headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Sen. Pat Roberts (R)![][1][(McClatchy) GOP works to defeat Iraq withdrawal measure:][2] Senate Republicans will buckle down Thursday to try to prevent passage of a Democratic resolution that calls for getting most American forces out of Iraq by March 2008. Republicans argued Wednesday against the plan, saying that American forces would be needed until Iraq has a strong central and democratic government. Democrats called that an impossible goal. They said American forces should not be getting into the middle of a civil war and effectively taking sides with one sect - the Shiites, who dominate the government. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who supports the administration on Iraq, said that Petraeus would know by summer if the Bush plan was working. "If we're not making progress we're going to have to go to a policy of containment," Roberts said.[(LA Times) Senate nears troop pull-out vote, White House threatens veto:][3] The congressional campaign to pull the troops out of Iraq gathered steam today as the Senate moved toward a vote on a resolution to withdraw American forces by the end of next March after handily cutting off a filibuster aimed at avoiding a vote. The White House immediately threatened a veto of any resolution dictating a troop withdrawal. Eighty-nine senators voted to cut off debate, much more than the 60 senators needed. Only nine senators voted the other way. The 50 Democrats who were present were joined by 39 Republicans in voting to cut off debate. The lopsided tally did not necessarily portend an eventual vote to withdraw the troops. Many of the senators who voted to cut off debate on the resolution plan to vote against it. They said they hoped the vote would clarify Congress' position on the war. "I think this debate ought to take place," said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), adding that he would vote against the resolution to withdraw the troops.Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) ![][4][(The Hill Profile of Rep. Rahm Emanuel:][5] Last year, as the House Democrats' chief election strategist, Emanuel engineered the party's takeover of the House by capitalizing on a nationalized midterm election. Now, as the House Democratic spokesman, Emanuel is working to keep freshman Democrats in office. His thoughts on how to manage casework, campaign for reelection, and win favorable press coverage are rooted in former Speaker Tip O'Neill's (D-Mass.) maxim that "all politics is local." ... Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) said, "It took [Emanuel] three weeks to come down off of the ceiling" after she refused to accept the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) assistance in her bid to win reelection in 2008. Boyda said Emanuel would "worry until November 4, 2008, but he says it in a very caring, grandmotherly way."[(The American Prospect commentary) Remember the 62:][6] I bet that when David Obey lost his temper last week, he was thinking in part of a number (politicians are always thinking of numbers) that I haven't seen at all in the press during these discussions about what the Democrats should do on Iraq. The number is 62, and it's the number of House Democrats who represent districts that George W. Bush carried in 2004. ... You should rest assured, as I have been assured, that this fact has not escaped the attention of conservative activists. They look at, say, Nick Lampson representing the old Tom DeLay district in Texas, Nancy Boyda in Jim Ryun's old Kansas district, Tim Mahoney in the old Mark Foley district in Florida, and five or six others and see seats that they think they should and will pick off next time around. ... Lampson and Boyda and a lot of other red-district Democrats would open themselves up to immediate criticism at home -- they were out of touch, they were following the lead of their San Francisco liberal Speaker, and so on. I'm not saying it's right, but I'm very much saying it will happen. And once they're seen as vulnerable, conservative money will flow into those districts.Rep. Jerry Moran (R) ![][7][(Pratt Tribune) Barker testifies before Congress:][8] A new Pratt business is going to help form the policies that will become the 2007 farm bill. Orion Ethanol, based in Pratt, was called to Washington D.C. to testify before a Congressional subcommittee as an example of a small, successful ethanol company, said Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran. "Orion was a role model or test case of how it can be done," Moran said. Moran, who is a member of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research that questioned Tim Barker, executive vice president of development for Orion Ethanol, said he was surprised that Orion, a group of local investors, can take existing programs and use private sector markets to create an ethanol plant.[(Western Farm Press) Moran, Emerson, Ross introduce new Cuba trade legislation:][9] It's not often that members from both sides in this divided Congress can agree on anything, but two Democrats and two Republicans have joined forces on legislation that could help sell more rice, wheat and other commodities to Cuba. Reps. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and Mike Ross, D-Ark., introduced the Agricultural Export Facilitation Act of 2007, which would remove restrictions on travel to and from and sales of agricultural products to the country formerly ruled by Fidel Castro. Moran, who was chairman of the House Agriculture General Commodities Subcommittee until last month, led a congressional delegation to Cuba in December. They did not meet with Castro or his brother, Raul, but came away saying more should be done to lift the Bush administration's restrictions on travel and sales transactions with Cuba. "With the stepping aside of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, this is an opportune time to encourage the United States to change its trade policies toward Cuba," said Moran, who spoke at a press conference announcing the introduction of the legislation.Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R) ![][10][(The Tribune-Democrat) Vet makes 1,100-mile trek to Johnstown for disability help:][11] Mason Wilson, 58, believed U.S. Rep. John Murtha's pledge to support veterans. The partially disabled Vietnam War veteran believed so deeply that he uprooted his family and moved them 1,100 miles from Wichita, Kan., to become a constituent of the Johnstown Democrat. "The Wichita (Veterans Administration) was not helping me," Wilson said, recounting his 10-year effort for increased benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. Homeless since arriving Friday, Wilson has been living in his 1991 Ford Astro minivan with his daughter, Tamesha Lee Wilson, 22, and grandson, Trevon Lee Duff, 2. Yet Wilson said Murtha has been no more helpful than his former congressman, U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan. "I asked, 'Will I be able to see him?' He's out of town." Aides for Murtha and Tiahrt acknowledged Wilson's case but would not discuss details because of privacy laws. "Our office has been assisting Mr. Wilson since 1996," Tiahrt spokeswoman Courtney English said. "There are certain steps he needs to take." [1]: http://roberts.senate.gov/Roberts-020405-18060-080-CFFflipped.jpg [2]: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/special_packages/iraq/16903994.htm [3]: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-warfunds15mar15,0,5424884.story?coll=la-home-headlines [4]: http://ljworld.com/specials/election04/primary/boyda.jpg [5]: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/emanuel-tells-freshmen-to-avoid-stephen-colbert-2007-03-14.html [6]: http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12557 [7]: http://ljworld.com/specials/kudole/bios/art/moran.jpg [8]: http://www.pratttribune.com/articles/2007/03/15/news/00.txt [9]: http://westernfarmpress.com/news/031407-trade-legislation/ [10]: http://bioguide.congress.gov/bioguide/photo/T/T000260.jpg [11]: http://www.tribune-democrat.com/homepage/local_story_074000525.html?keyword=leadpicturestory