{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=76218EBF-FC06-44B8-AB0E-87BAEA70800D", "VIDEO: Sen. Moran Speaks on Senate Floor to Recognize a Revitalized Humboldt", "2022-09-29", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "Senate", "KS", "Jerry Moran", "M000934", "www.moran.senate.gov", "moran", "https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.) spoke on the Senate floor yesterday to recognize the city of Humboldt as a leader in small-town revitalization and to recognize Humboldt with the Building Better Communities Award.\n\n\u201cThe community of Humboldt is a success story,\u201d said Sen. Moran. \u201cIt\u2019s a role model. It demonstrates how teamwork, creative thinking, hard work, treating others with respect and caring about the future of your community can make a difference for your city, the state and for our entire country. That\u2019s our brand in Kansas.\u201d\n\n\u201cI offer my congratulations and gratitude for the kind of leadership and effort among all residents of the community to see that Humboldt is a good place to live today and, and perhaps even more importantly a great place to live tomorrow,\u201d continued Sen. Moran.\n\nClick HERE to Watch Sen. Moran\u2019s Full Remarks\n\nSen. Moran\u2019s remarks as prepared:\n\n\u201cMr. President \u2013 This evening, I want to highlight a community in Kansas that is a model for rural towns across our state and our country.\n\n\u201cIt is timely because just yesterday the New York City mayor joked that my home state of Kansas has \u201cno brand\u201d and then chuckled at his joke.\n\n\u201cI had planned to give this floor speech before the mayor of New York City used Kansas as a punchline, but now it seems a little more fitting.\n\n\u201cLocated in Allen County, Humboldt, Kansas is home to about 2,000 residents. Like many small communities in rural America, Humboldt was facing declining population numbers as businesses moved away and buildings on Main Street were abandoned.\n\n\u201cEven the locally-owned newspaper, which opened in 1864 and was the state\u2019s longest, continuously running paper, the Humboldt Union, had to shut down.\n\n\u201cHowever, in the last couple of years, Humboldt has defied the odds.\n\n\u201cThe vacant buildings on Main Street now boast thriving businesses and welcoming storefronts. Since 2020, Humboldt has gained a coffee shop, a variety of bars and restaurants, a fitness center, a microbrewery, a grocery store, a hotel and the Humboldt Union was re-established.\n\n\u201cEven as the pandemic created new challenges for many small businesses, Humboldt\u2019s businesses were able to persevere.\n\n\u201cIn January, the travel desk at The New York Times selected Humboldt as a top destination in the world alongside places such as Greece, Australia and Argentina. Pretty ironic now.\n\n\u201cThe majority of growth and economic development in the community can be contributed to a civic organization called \u201cA Bolder Humboldt.\u201d This group was formed a few years ago by leaders, like Paul Clouthier, and is still going strong today.\n\n\u201cPaul recently took me on a tour of downtown with Mayor Nobby Davis to see first-hand the renovation being done and to meet the owners of the small businesses that are reshaping the town square.\n\n\u201cPaul said, \u201cI\u2019ve lived in a lot of big cities, and the thing I loved about them was that they had complete neighborhoods, with a grocery store and a dry cleaners and a bar and little restaurants. Which is basically what a small town is, or used to be.\u201d\n\n\u201cBolder Humboldt is working to rebuild the ideal, American small town for the 21st century.\n\n\u201cI visited a caf\u00e9 and coffee shop owned by Josh Works who is also involved in Bolder Humboldt. His father owns B&W Trailer Hitches and set a standard during the recession in 2008 to prioritize and care for his staff and his community.\n\n\u201cIn addition, the community has rebuilt 10 blocks of the downtown streetscape with help from a local business, Monarch Cement Company. Owned and run by Walter Wulf, this a 110-year-old business is a staple of the community.\n\n\u201cThe city has also developed Southwind Industrial Park with the latest addition of Murphy Tractor and Equipment Company \u2013 providing new jobs for locals and new residents.\n\n\u201cHumboldt also has gained fame as the hometown of Biblesta \u2013 an annual festival taking place this weekend that has been going for six decades and features the world\u2019s largest Bible-themed parade.\n\n\u201cEach year City Manager Cole Herder addresses graduating high school seniors and presents them with mailboxes in the school\u2019s colors \u2013 black boxes with orange lettering.\n\n\u201cEach box has the student\u2019s name and \u201cHumboldt, Kansas\u201d stenciled in orange letters. Inside, there is an invitation.\n\n\u201cHe appeals to students to pursue an education and new experiences, but he also encourages them to consider their hometown of Humboldt as the place to establish their careers and raise their own families.\n\n\u201cThe community of Humboldt is a success story. It\u2019s a role model.\n\n\u201cIt demonstrates how teamwork, creative thinking, hard work, treating others with respect, and caring about the future of your community can make a positive difference for your city, the state and for our entire country.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s our brand in Kansas.\n\n\u201cI am proud to recognize the efforts of Humboldt with what we\u2019ve called the Building Better Communities Award.\n\n\u201cToday, in the United States Senate, I offer my congratulations and gratitude for the kind of leadership and effort among all residents of the community to see that Humboldt is a good place to live today and, and perhaps even more importantly a great place to live tomorrow.\u201d\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "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/news-releases?ID=76218EBF-FC06-44B8-AB0E-87BAEA70800D"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9566209521144629, "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"}