Health Care Reform - Devastating to Patients

Senator Roberts voted against a costly and partisan health care reform proposal passed by the Senate Health Committee ,which would still leave 34 million Americans uninsured and cost American taxpayers $2 trillion while expanding government programs. The bill would restrict health benefits Americans currently have or deny access to doctors and treatments.

Senator Roberts said, "Americans will pay for this reform with tax increases. These higher taxes will devastate our small businesses which create 70 percent of our jobs. We should not raise taxes on job creators when we need our economy to rebound from a recession. In addition to higher taxes, cuts to Medicare will also pay for this massive government expansion."

"As a member of both the Senate Finance and Health Committees, the two committees writing the so-called health care reform bill, I have worked hard to call attention to what lurks under this banner of ‘reform.’ Something needs to be done to ensure all Americans have access to affordable and quality health care, but we must take this health care reform process cautiously and seriously. There are proposals that would improve the health care system without resorting to a government-run plan that will ration care and restrict patient choice. Those are the bills I will support on behalf of Kansas patients and health care providers. It’s too important to be done hastily."

At a Senate Agriculture Cap and Trade hearing this week, Senator Roberts warned cap and trade will have negative impacts on rural communities and agricultural producers in exchange for little to no reduction in carbon emissions. Because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has underestimated the increased cost of natural gas and the increased costs of fertilizer, under these climate change proposals, energy costs paid by farmers, ranchers, local businesses, hospitals and Kansas consumers will skyrocket.

Senator Roberts said, "This cap and tax legislation would penalize rural communities in Kansas and indirectly add costs to family budgets. Enticing farmers with carbon payments, ignoring the consequences of a loss of at least 40 million crop acres and selling out our small towns with cap and trade is not good for our producers or rural America. As a member of the both the Senate Agriculture and Finance Committees, I will keep a close eye on this legislation and am hopeful the committees will have additional opportunities to address the many concerns of this bill and its affect on rural America."

Senator Roberts congratulated staff member Harold A. Stones, Special Projects Director in his Topeka office, on receiving the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service presented by LTG William Caldwell, IV, Commander, Combined Arms Center and Ft. Leavenworth and Commandant, Command and General Staff College and LTG (ret.) Robert Arter, former Commandant of the Command and General Staff College.

Senator Roberts said, "Harold Stones is a true servant of the people of Kansas, especially members of the military and their families. His devotion to those who wear the uniform and his love of our country are deserving of this honor. I am proud to have Harold on my staff and honored to call him my friend."

Senator Roberts invited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson to Treece, Kansas, for a tour to see firsthand the dangerous conditions in the town. Roberts continued his call for a buyout of the Treece residents before taxpayer dollars are wasted remediating topsoil in an area full of sinkholes threatening human life. Earlier this month Senator Roberts called attention to an example of waste of stimulus funds in Cherokee County, when taxpayer dollars were to be used to pave the same road twice near Treece. Senator Roberts thanked Vice President Biden for immediately addressing the situation in part. The road will now be paved only once.

Roberts said, "The EPA still wants to spend $25 million in stimulus dollars to clean-up topsoil in an area that threatens to fall into sink holes. The EPA says the work will be finished in 10 years. Well, that is too long for residents to wait while living in contamination, and with the threat of cave-ins. We need to move them out of harm’s way immediately and stop spending money on work that will fall in a hole, literally."

Senator Roberts, Senator Brownback, and Congresswoman Jenkins have jointly urged the Environmental Protection Agency to use a portion of the money allocated for top soil contamination to address the more critical problem of subsidence that endangers residents of Treece on a daily basis. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has determined the cost of a business and residential property buyout and relocation would be $3.5 million. KDHE would administer the relocation and the State of Kansas will contribute $500,000.

As a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senators Pat Roberts and Tom Harkin (D-IA) recently introduced a bill to continue critical agriculture mediation programs, which helps our Kansas farmers and ranchers seek confidential advice and counsel to address loan problems and disputes before they become too much for a producer to handle. The legislation would continue to authorize the Certified State Agriculture Mediation Program for five years.

Mediation provides a neutral forum to discuss complex issues and build strong working relationships with producers, their lenders and government agencies. 35 States now participate in the program.

Senator Roberts launched an online petition to convey to the Obama Administration the widespread opposition of Kansans to the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the transfer of terrorists to American communities like Leavenworth, due to the unnecessary risks it presents to all Americans. Kansans can join Senator Roberts in opposing the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the transfer of terrorists to American communities such as Leavenworth, Kansas, by visiting the Senator’s homepage and clicking on the "Gitmo" button on the lower left side at the following web address: https://www.roberts.senate.gov/ .