Sen. Brownback makes quick stop in Hays
By WILL MANLY
Hays Daily News
After being told the time for his town hall meeting was at an end, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., looked disappointed.
"Aw," he said. "Can't we do one more question."
And before a staff member could usher the senator and one-time presidential candidate from the room and off to his next appointment, a college student in the crowd blurted out the elephant in the room:
"What's your position on the Iraq war?"
Nervous chuckles came from the scores of people -- many of them college students there for a class requirement -- packed into Stouffer Lounge at Fort Hays State University's Memorial Union.
The question could have come from any of them. And, clearly, it was on several minds.
Brownback's answer was: Don't give up.
"I think at this point in time, you have to see it through to a stabilized situation," he said.
The costs and the casualties are outweighed by the necessity to defeat terrorists in the Middle East, Brownback said.
"They will not stay there," he said. "They will come here."
Prior to that, Brownback fielded questions about the farm bill -- he's for it.
He addressed water consumption -- he says we need to reduce it over time.
Ethanol -- for it.
The military's decision to award tanker contracts to a company with French ties rather than to Boeing -- against it.
The proposed coal-burning power plants near Holcomb in Finney County that has created national buzz -- for it.
Embryonic stem-cell research -- against it.
Before the meeting, Brownback met with FHSU President Edward H. Hammond.
After the meeting, he headed south for similar meetings in La Crosse, Ness City and Jetmore. Brownback is on a tour of all 105 Kansas counties.
"I've been out on the presidential race, campaigning across the country," he said. "I want to get back and touch base with people all across the state of Kansas."
Reporter Will Manly can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 139, or by e-mail at