By Morton Kondracke

In the 1970s, as a young deputy sheriff in King County, Wash., Rep. Dave Reichert (R) had his throat slashed while trying to break up a domestic dispute.

Reichert’s attacker spent time in a mental institution, then was released. Later, Sheriff Reichert made an effort to find out what happened to the man. He found he was teaching school in Colorado.

Reichert recounted the tale to fellow Republicans last month as part of an effort to get them to back a bill enabling school districts to tap into national criminal databases before they hire employees.

It turned out that the school district that hired Reichert’s attacker had checked Colorado databases, but had no idea about his criminal record in the Evergreen State.

The bill Reichert was boosting, the School Safely Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, passed the House almost unanimously in June – the first legislative success for the GOP’s “Suburban Agenda,” a set of bills designed to appeal to the majority of American voters who live in the suburbs.

The agenda is the brainchild of Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., one of Congress’ most effective moderates, who has sold it to a growing group of conservatives and the House GOP leadership.