Flu Preparedness

Due to the flu outbreak, Senator Roberts urged preparedness, not panic, regarding the current situation at a recent Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing.

Senator Roberts said, "We’ve taken important actions through the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 and through general oversight to ensure that the agencies involved are better prepared. Millions of Americans get the regular flu every year, that can result in tragedy. This new virus is real and it must be treated seriously. The American people need to be aware and be able to protect themselves from the H1N1 virus, but we don’t need to terrify them.

"The emergence of this new virus further demonstrates our need to not only be prepared to react to disease outbreaks, but to also undertake the necessary research that allows us to stay one step ahead of them. The new National Agro and Biodefense Facility (NBAF) to be built in Manhattan will do research on existing and emerging diseases. I will be urging our colleagues to support funding for the construction of this facility so we can move forward on this important research."

Roberts has been outspoken on the need to address a possible pandemic vaccine situation. In 2002, he led efforts to ensure provisions protecting agriculture from an agroterrorism attack were included in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. In 2005, Roberts joined then Senator Clinton (D-NY) in introducing legislation to help prevent recurring shortages of flu vaccines and to strengthen the nation’s vaccine delivery infrastructure to better respond to a crisis.

For more information on this recent flu, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/.

Senator Roberts recently spoke to the American Association for Homecare and Hospice and met with Judy Bellome and Jane Kelly with the Kansas Homecare Association who were in Washington attending their national conference. Roberts has been an outspoken advocate of homecare in Kansas.

Roberts said, "As the co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Care Caucus, I understand how critical home and hospice care is for our seniors. In Kansas and other rural areas, many seniors live alone or miles away from a local hospital or doctor’s office. Homecare allows that senior the freedom and independence to stay in the home, and the comfort of knowing someone is there assisting with their health care needs. More important, homecare is cost effective care that keeps a senior out of a nursing home or hospital. I will continue to fight for homecare in Washington."

Recently, Senator Roberts introduced the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2009, a bill that would let scholarship and Greek life houses at universities use tax deductible funds for housing and infrastructure improvements without jeopardizing their charitable or educational tax-exempt status. Currently, organizations aligned with Greek life or scholarship houses may only spend their contributions on purely educational housing improvements, and cannot purchase life safety systems, such as a sprinkler system.

Senator Roberts said, "I’ve heard from Kansas colleges and universities who do not have the necessary safety technology like sprinkler systems and emergency alert systems that college dorms and other campus housing have in place. My bill updates the tax code to allow taxpayers to contribute toward renovations to existing housing without compromising that organization's tax-exempt status."

Senator Roberts was honored to introduce Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee roundtable hearing on health insurance market reform. Senator Roberts remarked, "Sandy is an excellent Insurance Commissioner for Kansas, a former Kansas Legislator, and a friend. Her health insurance expertise and her leadership abilities have also been recognized at the national level as she is the most immediate Past President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. I was pleased that Sandy could testify in Washington before the HELP Committee today and share her considerable experience with health insurance market regulation."

Citing safety reasons, Senators Roberts, Brownback and Representative Lynn Jenkins recently urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use a portion of the $10-25 million allocated for top soil contamination in Cherokee County to address the more critical problem of subsidence that endangers residents of Treece, Kansas on a daily basis. In their letter to the EPA, they wrote, "While removing contaminated soil is to be commended, this action does not offer a long-term solution to an area affected by subsidence. The most accountable and transparent action would be to relocate the town of Treece to an area suitable for raising families, expanding businesses and living a healthy life. Again, we strongly encourage the EPA to assist in this endeavor."

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. Treece, population 140, is located in Cherokee County, which encompasses 115 square miles of former mining areas dating back to the early 1900s. Mining operations in Cherokee County stopped in 1970, but the effects of over 60 years of mining can be seen for miles around in the form of mountains of milling waste. Below these mountains and in surrounding areas are enormous holes and hidden shafts that represent a daily threat to the safety of Treece residents and are the source of the subsidence.

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