{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/11/kansas-common-sense-spending-thanksgiving-with-ft-riley-families", "Kansas Common Sense - Spending Thanksgiving with Ft. Riley Families", "2017-11-27", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "KS", "Jerry Moran", "M000934", "www.moran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Hello, Welcome to \u201cKansas Common Sense.\u201d Thanks for your continued interest in receiving my weekly newsletter. Please feel free to forward it on to your family and friends if it would interest them. Robba and I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving this week. We visited and dined with soldiers and their families at Ft. Riley, as well as Major General Martin and Sergeant Major Cornelison, and thanked them for their service on behalf of all Kansans. I had a little work to do before dining. My responsibilities: sweet potatoes, rice and dressing. Our family had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and were all together in church on Sunday. We are thankful for the sacrifices and service of those enlisted in our armed forces, in Kansas and across the nation. Visiting Leavenworth High School and the Leavenworth Kiwanis ClubI spent time in Leavenworth on Tuesday afternoon where I toured the high school and joined a\u00a0Kiwanis Club meeting. My tour of\u00a0Leavenworth High School\u00a0was led by student leaders Chase Broeker and Madeline Murphy along with LHS Principal Christina Lentz. The students described their daily schedule and what their school offers, then showed me around the athletic facilities along with the theater, choir and band rooms. We visited the ROTC program, which has the distinct\u00a0honor of being the oldest in the nation \u2013 first established in 1916. I also viewed Auto One class, which is held in partnership with Highland Community college, to see what the students were up to. Auto One students work on cars, learning mechanical skills and design. I was pleased to hear that LHS offers avenues to tech and vocational schools as well as four-year colleges. Following my visit to LHS, the Salvation Army of Leavenworth County shared the Leavenworth Kiwanis Club program with me during their meeting at the Heritage Center. One of the many things I am thankful for is the good work of service organizations like the Kiwanis Club who provide for so many not only during the holiday season but year-round, getting Kansans young and old involved in serving one another. The Salvation Army is hard at work encouraging Red Kettle donations, which support year-round services such as homeless, emergency and disaster assistance, feeding programs and more. Our conversation during the meeting also touched on our healthcare system and the importance of providing our veterans with the care they have earned. Hosting Kansas Listening Tour Stops in Marshall and Clay CountiesOn Wednesday, I visited Frankfort as part of my Kansas Listening Tour and had a productive discussion with more than 90 Kansans about some of the concerns they have with legislation on the local and federal levels. We discussed veterans, the Choice program, my concerns regarding a NAFTA withdrawal, tax reform, healthcare and the importance of reauthorizing the Perkins Loan Program. Thank you to all who attended for sharing your thoughts with me and to the Frankfort Education Center for hosting our meeting. My second listening tour stop of the week took place on Saturday in Clay County. I was pleased to visit with local residents about tax reform, NAFTA, CHIP reauthorization, health care, FCC regulations and the agriculture economy. I expressed my goal to keep jobs and business in places such as Clay Center for generations to come.\r\nThank you so the Tasty Pastry and Clay County locals for welcoming me and many others into their community. Touring the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAs a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that determines funding for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), I visited the\u00a0CDC\u00a0with Director Brenda Fitzgerald, accompanied by University of Kansas Health Systems Chief Medical Officer Dr. Wild, to discuss the CDC\u2019s critical work to defend our nation by responding to international disease outbreaks and natural disasters \u2013 an important role in homeland security that often goes unheralded. I toured the Emergency Operations Center, where the CDC is actively responding to health crises in Puerto Rico in the wake of the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria. The CDC\u2019s actions go beyond providing the basic necessities like water, common medicine and medical care and involve tasks such as restoring common vaccinations that were destroyed on the island. The CDC is also continuously conducting research to be able to better identify markers of diseases so that in the case of an outbreak, the cause and care needed can be quickly identified and then provided. The CDC partners with state health agencies and labs across the country to respond to health concerns quickly and effectively. I am grateful for Director Fitzgerald\u2019s guidance of the agency and for her taking the time to update me on their important efforts, which protect the United States and improve lives across the world/. Sending a Letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on NAFTAI sent a bipartisan letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this week asking the administration to conduct a robust economic analysis to evaluate how any changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would affect our crop and livestock sectors. As the world\u2019s top exporter of food and agricultural products, farmers in Kansas and across the country depend on access to international markets in which to sell their products. With the fifth round of NAFTA renegotiations underway, any changes to U.S. trade policy must be positive for agriculture, especially in a time of low commodity prices and decreasing farm income. Kansas farmers and ranchers can\u2019t afford to lose access to Mexico and Canada, our state\u2019s top two export markets. See the full text of the letter here. Attending the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Annual Banquet ReceptionI joined more than 1900 attendees at the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce\u2019s 130th Annual Banquet Reception on Tuesday evening. The event was hosted at the Kansas City Convention Center.\u00a0During the reception, I visited with numerous Kansas City area business, religious and civic leaders. I was pleased to see that the Chamber announced a new partnership with Google to help in the development of an integrated transit system for the Kansas City area. Congratulations also to Roy Jenson for being named Kansas Citian of the Year.\u00a0Jensen is the Director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center and under his leadership, the center has become one of 69 National Cancer Institutes. My thanks for all the Kansas City community leaders who I was able to spend time with at the reception. Announcing 2017 United States Service Academy NominationsHaving the chance to nominate some of Kansas\u2019 best and brightest young people to our United States Service Academies is a distinct honor for me each year. This year I have nominated 42 Kansans to enter the Service Academies as part of the class of 2018. I am proud of each and every one of these students, who have demonstrated a commitment to service, the drive to succeed and tremendous dedication to our state and our nation. To view a full list of the students nominated, please click here. The interviews for these nominations took place at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene in October. My Service Academy Selection Board considered more than 60 young Kansans interested in attending the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy before making their recommendations for me to review. These nominees must now meet the individual admission requirements of each academy. The academies will make the final decision of who will receive an appointment of admission in early 2018. Those selected will enter the academies in June 2018. Click here for more information and a video from Service Academy Selection Day. Kansans in the Office Capitol TourRick Tague of Topeka  Kathy Tague of Topeka  Joe Hishmeh of Topeka  Cheryl Hishmeh of Topeka  Sandy Law of Tipton  Phyllis Schmitt of Tipton  Don Montgomery of Tipton  Virginia Montgomery of Tipton  Jon Bartholomew of Derby  Shari Bartholomew of Derby  Chad Lucas of Leawood  Angie Lucas of Leawood  Grant Lucas of Leawood  Hudson Lucas of Leawood  Payton Lucas of Leawood  Gregory Liby of Andale  Melissa Liby of Andale  Canyon Liby of Andale  Aspen Liby of Andale  Thomas Scanlan of Gypsum  Judy Scanlan of Gypsum  Tim Sturm of Wichita  Beth Sturm of Wichita  Edward Sturm of Wichita  Claire Sturm of Wichita  William Call of Farlington  Christine Call of Farlington  Madison Call of Farlington  Emma Call of Farlington  Austin Call of Farlington  Christopher Edenfield of Overland Park  Julia Terenjuk of Overland Park Honored to Serve You in WashingtonIt is an honor to serve you in Washington, D.C. Thank you to the many Kansans who have been calling and writing in to share their thoughts and opinions on the issues our state and country face. I appreciate the words of Kansans, whether in the form of a form of letter, a Facebook comment or a phone call, who wish to make their voice heard. Please let me know how I can be of assistance. You can contact me by email by\u00a0clicking here. You can also\u00a0click here\u00a0to contact me through one of my Kansas offices or my Washington, D.C., office. Very truly yours,  Jerry", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/11/kansas-common-sense-spending-thanksgiving-with-ft-riley-families"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7745539769530296, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}