WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) was recently named a "Guardian of Small Business" by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

"Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of our Kansas communities," Senator Roberts said. "I always keep this in mind when considering legislation to protect Kansas’s small-business owners and employees. Thank you to NFIB for this award."

The "Guardian of Small Business" award from NFIB is based on a member of Congress’ voting record on behalf of America’s small-business owners in the 109^th Congress. One of the votes this award measured was support for the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act. This bipartisan legislation, strongly supported by Senator Roberts, would increase access to affordable, high quality health care for small businesses by allowing them to pool together through an association and offer health insurance to their employees with these Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs). Unfortunately, this bill fell just a few votes short of passage because of a procedural hurdle on the Senate floor, but Senator Roberts remains committed to working with his colleagues on the Senate Health Committee to make this bill a priority.

Senator Roberts has been named a "Guardian of Small Business" every session of Congress since 1981.

Attached is a photo of Senator Roberts receiving the NFIB "Guardian of Small Business" award. Feel free to use the photo as you wish. For more information, please visit: http://www.nfib.org .