Here are today’s headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Sen. Pat Roberts (R)!(New York Times) Senate Passes Children’s Health Plan: The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to a health insurance bill for 10 million children, clearing the measure for President Bush, who said he would veto it. The 67-29 vote followed a series of speeches by Republican senators supporting the bill and urging Mr. Bush to reconsider his veto threat. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, one of 18 Republicans who voted for the bill, said the White House had shown “little if any willingness to come to the negotiating table.”(Reuters) Congress sends kids health care to Bush: But Bush’s threat to veto the children’s health care bill has angered some of his own Republicans. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said Bush should “rethink” his veto threat and sign the bill. “This bill and this debate has turned into a political showdown,” Roberts said during the Senate debate. “Unfortunately, low-income children will be the ones who will ultimately pay the price.”(LA Times) Allies push Bush to pass children’s insurance: On the Senate floor, some of the sharpest challenges to Bush’s position came from Republicans. The bill’s GOP supporters said the administration was misinformed — and even misleading the public — when it argued that the bill’s provisions for extending aid upward to families far from the poverty line would put the nation on a slippery slope toward socialized medicine. “The administration is threatening to veto this bill because of ‘excessive spending’ and their belief that this bill is a step toward federalization of healthcare,” said Sen.Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a supporter of the plan. “I am not for excessive spending and strongly oppose the federalization of healthcare. And if the administration’s concerns with this bill were accurate, I would support a veto. But, bluntly put, they are not.”Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) !(CQ.com) Hispanic Caucus Seeks Unity on Immigration: Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus want more party discipline to stop Democrats from siding with the GOP on measures they view as anti-immigrant. Six times since June, House Republicans have used procedural votes to box Democrats into a corner on various aspects of illegal immigration. Vulnerable Democrats, including 19 freshmen, have voted “yes” on at least some of those votes. … The freshman Democrats who have voted for some but not all of the GOP motions are Arizona’s Gabrielle Giffords and Harry E. Mitchell; California’s Jerry McNerney; Florida’s Tim Mahoney; Indiana’s Joe Donnelly and Baron P. Hill; Kansas’ Nancy Boyda; New Hampshire’s Paul W. Hodes; New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hall; Ohio’s Zack Space and Charlie Wilson; Pennsylvania’s Jason Altmire, Christopher Carney and Patrick J. Murphy; Texas’ Nick Lampson; and Wisconsin’s Steve Kagen.Rep. Jerry Moran (R) !(Baxter Bulletin) Disappearing pharmacies: Saying laws have forced the closing of more than 1,000 independent community pharmacies nationwide in the last year, U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., announced Thursday the founding of a new congressional coalition for community pharmacists. “When a community pharmacy closes its doors forever, their patients are the biggest losers. This is especially critical in rural areas where community pharmacists are often the only medical professional available for many families,” he said. Berry and three other coalition founders – Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. – announced their intentions in a press conference call Thursday. The coalition’s founders said their group has the support of 36 other members. “I see this coalition as an opportunity to counterbalance, and in some cases work with, PhRMA,” Moran said of the special interest group representing pharmaceutical manufacturers.