Friends,
This week I was honored to join KSU and Sen. Moran in welcoming our USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to the wheat state. It is always great to have the leading voice on Ag in the White House meeting with Kansans.
While I wholeheartedly understand the tough times our producers have been up against, I know that Sec. Perdue, myself, and other Ag leaders are fighting hard in Washington to secure new markets, and see this Farm Bill to the finish line.
In other news, Friday the Department of Labor released the October jobs numbers. The economy added 250,000 jobs in October, up from 118,000 in September, and the unemployment rate came in at 3.7 percent, the lowest since 1969! The unemployment rate in Kansas has fallen by 0.8 percent to their lowest level since 1999.
There’s no denying that this Congress and Administration has unleashed this economy with our pro-growth policies. I am working around the clock to make sure our Farm economy also reaps these same economic benefits.
Lastly, I hope you all had a safe Halloween, trick or treating with your loved ones. My grandson surely enjoyed the candy and treats in their superhero costumes!
KSU welcomes USDA Sec. Perdue
It was a pleasure to welcome U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue back to Manhattan on Thursday as the featured speaker for the esteemed Kansas State University Landon Lecture Series.
Secretary Perdue shared the lessons and principals he learned growing up on a farm in Georgia, which included: stewardship and responsibility; trust and faith; and optimism. Today he uses those same guiding principals to serve our nation’s farmers and ranchers. In his lecture, he reiterated his commitment to making the USDA more user-friendly and effective to better serve its rural customers.
The USDA’s work has a significant impact on my district, for both farmers and the numerous rural communities across the Big First. I couldn’t be more proud of the work he has done and continues to do at the USDA.
Rolling back the red tape on our nursing homes
During my time as a physician in Great Bend, Kansas, I saw the struggles many skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) were facing due to illogical and burdensome regulations. One particular regulation has kept SNFs from training new Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) an already depleted workforce. This rule mandated if facility accumulates fines over $10,000, whether or not those fines had anything to do with their CNA training program, CNAs could not be trained there.
While it is absolutely important to monitor the quality of care for our loved ones in these nursing facilities, providing these practices with an adequate workforce is just as crucial for their safety and comfort. I am honored to have signed onto HR 6986, the Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act, that will update these regulations and ensure a strong CNA workforce in our assisted living facilities.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the Kansas First District Congressman.