Newsletter Archive
July Roberts Report
Jul 18 2007
Kansas Selected as NBAF Finalist
Last week, Senator Roberts announced that the state of Kansas took a major step forward with the advancement of the Manhattan site to the final rounds of site selection for the new National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) originally considered 17 sites in 12 states and narrowed down the sites under consideration to five.
Senator Roberts, who started working on bringing the facility to Kansas in 2005, was appointed by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius this year to be Honorary Chairman of the Kansas NBAF Task Force. Roberts said, “Kansas has so much to celebrate with the decision to include Manhattan in the list of sites still under consideration. While both Leavenworth and Manhattan had excellent qualifications, there is no mistaking the big win for Kansas.”
The NBAF would replace the aging Plum Island facility, the federal government’s most secure location for animal disease research. The next step in the site selection process will be an environmental impact study projected to be completed in late 2008. Upon completion of the studies, DHS will then choose the location of the new NBAF. Construction is set to begin in 2010.
Touring Southeast Kansas Flooding
Joining Senator Brownback and Rep. Tiahrt, Senator Roberts toured by air and land some of the significant flood damage in Southeast, KS with stops in Coffeyville, Osawatomie and Fredonia. Roberts worked with Governor Sebelius and President Bush to declare these seventeen counties devastated by flooding as disaster areas, which brings much needed funds to the area for recovery. Any Kansan, needing help with disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), should call Sen. Roberts’ office in Topeka at (785) 295-2745.
Getting Tough on Child Support
Senator Roberts recently introduced common sense legislation to allow the federal government to revoke passports of parents who fall behind in child support payments. “No child should be neglected - unfortunately that is not the case in some families. I hope this legislation will work as a tool to improve the collection of owed child support in Kansas and across the nation,” Senator Roberts said.
The legislation allows the federal government to revoke the existing passport of any parent whose child support debt exceeds $2,500, the amount set by law. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Dennis Moore (D-KS) and Jerry Moran (R-KS). Under current law, parents who owe $2,500 or more in child support payments are restricted from receiving new passports, but can keep their current one. According to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), this bill could help to bring more dollars to single parents and their kids, which reduces other public assistance caseloads, and reduces the burden of Kansas taxpayers caused by dead beat parents.
Oskaloosa Parade
Senator Roberts was pleased to be the Grand Marshal of Oskaloosa’s Old Settler’s Day Parade. This year the parade celebrated the 147th Anniversary of the Oskaloosa Independent, the newspaper founded by Senator Roberts’ great-grandfather.
Roberts’ roots in Oskaloosa and Jefferson County date back to1856 when his great-grandfather, John Wesley Roberts, left Ohio to join and lead in the struggle to make the Kansas Territory a free state. John Wesley Roberts shipped a flatbed press by rail and steamboat to Ft. Leavenworth, where it was taken by wagon to Oskaloosa. The Independent survives today as the state’s second oldest newspaper, published through three generations of the Roberts family.
Kansas Native to be CFTC Commissioner
At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing recently, Senator Roberts introduced Jill Sommers, and conveyed his strong support for her to be the Commissioner of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). She is a Fort Scott native, University of Kansas graduate, former staffer for Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) and has worked in the futures industry.
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Last week, Senator Roberts announced that the state of Kansas took a major step forward with the advancement of the Manhattan site to the final rounds of site selection for the new National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) originally considered 17 sites in 12 states and narrowed down the sites under consideration to five.
Senator Roberts, who started working on bringing the facility to Kansas in 2005, was appointed by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius this year to be Honorary Chairman of the Kansas NBAF Task Force. Roberts said, “Kansas has so much to celebrate with the decision to include Manhattan in the list of sites still under consideration. While both Leavenworth and Manhattan had excellent qualifications, there is no mistaking the big win for Kansas.”
The NBAF would replace the aging Plum Island facility, the federal government’s most secure location for animal disease research. The next step in the site selection process will be an environmental impact study projected to be completed in late 2008. Upon completion of the studies, DHS will then choose the location of the new NBAF. Construction is set to begin in 2010.
Touring Southeast Kansas Flooding
Joining Senator Brownback and Rep. Tiahrt, Senator Roberts toured by air and land some of the significant flood damage in Southeast, KS with stops in Coffeyville, Osawatomie and Fredonia. Roberts worked with Governor Sebelius and President Bush to declare these seventeen counties devastated by flooding as disaster areas, which brings much needed funds to the area for recovery. Any Kansan, needing help with disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), should call Sen. Roberts’ office in Topeka at (785) 295-2745.
Getting Tough on Child Support
Senator Roberts recently introduced common sense legislation to allow the federal government to revoke passports of parents who fall behind in child support payments. “No child should be neglected - unfortunately that is not the case in some families. I hope this legislation will work as a tool to improve the collection of owed child support in Kansas and across the nation,” Senator Roberts said.
The legislation allows the federal government to revoke the existing passport of any parent whose child support debt exceeds $2,500, the amount set by law. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Dennis Moore (D-KS) and Jerry Moran (R-KS). Under current law, parents who owe $2,500 or more in child support payments are restricted from receiving new passports, but can keep their current one. According to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), this bill could help to bring more dollars to single parents and their kids, which reduces other public assistance caseloads, and reduces the burden of Kansas taxpayers caused by dead beat parents.
Oskaloosa Parade
Senator Roberts was pleased to be the Grand Marshal of Oskaloosa’s Old Settler’s Day Parade. This year the parade celebrated the 147th Anniversary of the Oskaloosa Independent, the newspaper founded by Senator Roberts’ great-grandfather.
Roberts’ roots in Oskaloosa and Jefferson County date back to1856 when his great-grandfather, John Wesley Roberts, left Ohio to join and lead in the struggle to make the Kansas Territory a free state. John Wesley Roberts shipped a flatbed press by rail and steamboat to Ft. Leavenworth, where it was taken by wagon to Oskaloosa. The Independent survives today as the state’s second oldest newspaper, published through three generations of the Roberts family.
Kansas Native to be CFTC Commissioner
At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing recently, Senator Roberts introduced Jill Sommers, and conveyed his strong support for her to be the Commissioner of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). She is a Fort Scott native, University of Kansas graduate, former staffer for Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) and has worked in the futures industry.
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