It’s been a busy few weeks in Washington and Kansas, and I wanted to give you an update on what I’ve been working on recently and what it means for Kansans:

A Jobs Plan that Won’t Add to the Deficit

Lowering the unemployment rate has to be one of our highest priorities in Congress. That’s why I’ve helped draft new legislation that will put millions of Americans back on the job and it will not add one dime to the federal deficit. This new bill -- The Jobs Through Growth Act – gives the President line-item veto authority to cut wasteful spending; it requires a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution; it simplifies the tax system for small businesses and Kansas families; and it repeals the job-killing Obamacare law, which is estimated to cost the economy at least 800,000 jobs.

It also includes my regulatory reform measure, which would repeal many of the regulatory actions that are duplicative, unnecessary or overly- burdensome on our economy. I cannot visit a Kansas small business or manufacturing plant without hearing about the regulatory burden they are fighting. I urge President Obama to look at these proposals to get the economy moving again and get America back to work.

Presidential Citizens Medal

Congratulations are in order to Roger Kemp from Leawood who just received the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal this week from President Obama. It’s one of the highest honors given to Americans who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their county or fellow citizens. I was proud to write the President on his behalf along with Senator Jerry Moran.

Roger and his family stopped by my office after the ceremony to tell me about his meeting with the President, and to show me his medal. What an honor! Roger is a devoted father whose perseverance in the face of great personal tragedy has made our communities a better place. I applaud his efforts to empower women and to help law enforcement bring justice to those that harm others. Thank you, Roger, and God bless you. You can click here to watch a video from our visit.

Rural Health Care Bill

I have introduced a bipartisan bill to improve rural health care. Kansans know that health care cannot be one size fits all. Our hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other providers in rural areas have difficulty making ends meet, especially when doing business with the federal government. With a low volume of patients and a high number of Medicare or Medicaid patients, rural areas have trouble creating the same economies of scale as their urban counterparts.

My bill tries to make up for those differences by making some common sense reforms to the Medicare payment system. It extends programs to attract health care professionals to rural areas where there are shortages. It also takes advantage of technology and expands telemedicine. And finally, we make it easier to get referrals to home health services by allowing nurses, physician’s assistants and others to make those calls when care in the home is warranted. We need to pass this bill to ensure that those who live in rural areas can receive better access to high quality health care.

Trade Agreements will help Kansas Economy

Three pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea have been enacted into law. These agreements were long overdue, and will aid the economy and create thousands of Kansas jobs. Finally, the president put action behind words to open markets for American goods and services.

As Kansans and the rest of our nation continue the slow and bumpy climb out of these tough economic times, we must do all that we can to foster economic growth. Opening foreign markets to U.S. goods, services, and agriculture is an obvious part of the solution. But we can’t stop with passing these three trade agreements. In order to stay competitive with our foreign partners, we need to stay in the game.

You can click here to watch my commentary straight off the Senate floor after the votes.

Fighting for General Aviation

This summer, the Obama Administration announced it was ending the “Block Aircraft Registration Request” (BARR) program, which protects the privacy of general aviation pilots. BARR, which has been in place for more than a decade, has allowed private citizens and companies to “opt out” of having their noncommercial aircraft movements tracked by anyone anywhere in the world who has an Internet connection -- other than the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies. I strongly oppose the Obama Administration’s decision to curtail the BARR program as of August and have introduced legislation to preserve it. Congressman Mike Pompeo and I are working together in this fight and he introduced a companion bill in the House.

The Senate is currently considering our bill as part of a larger appropriations package, but we cannot let up on the fight. This week, the Senate General Aviation Caucus, of which I’m a member, held a roundtable discussion with Harrison Ford, actor, pilot and general aviation advocate. We talked about the importance of preserving BARR, so our nation’s owners and operators of general aviation aircraft are no longer vulnerable to the unwanted tracking of their movements. You can click here to watch our discussion.

Ending another regulation – giving you the “Freedom to Breathe”

This week I introduced a bill to allow millions of asthma sufferers the freedom to purchase their choice of inhalers, despite a proposed regulation prohibiting the use of certain types of inhalers.

This regulation, which is set to take effect at the end of the year, is simply another example of the federal government injecting itself into the daily lives of millions of Americans. Regulations like this are proof positive of why the Senate needs to move forward with legislation that provides comprehensive regulatory relief to businesses and individuals.

My bill, the Freedom to Breathe Act of 2011, comes as the Federal Drug Administration continues to move forward with an overly burdensome regulation that would ban the production and sale of over-the-counter epinephrine asthma inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons. The problem is millions of asthma sufferers use this kind of inhaler. Without my bill, enforcing the regulation could cost more than a billion dollars in increased costs for those who need inhalers.

Check Senator Roberts’ Website, YouTube and Facebook Sites for Updates

You can visit my YouTube site for more information on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. and Kansas by visiting www.youtube.com/SenPatRoberts. It's a great place to find speeches and debates on the Senate floor, press conferences, interviews and Senate hearings. You can also stay updated on all these happenings on my Facebook and Twitter sites.

If you wish to contact me about an issue or want more information, please visit my website, roberts.senate.gov.