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For three weeks we have seen the fighting going on in Israel and the Gaza Strip carried on between the Israeli military and Hamas. In both Gaza and Israel lives, unfortunately, are being lost, homes are destroyed, families are devastated, security is threatened, and daily life is polluted by this war.
Since the fighting began, Hamas has made it abundantly clear that it is unwilling to behave in any responsible manner. The organization is using civilian areas such as schools and hospitals, mosques and playgrounds, as rocket-launching sites. Caches of rockets have been discovered inside two Gaza schools sponsored by the United Nations. A chance for peace emerged when Egypt put forward a cease-fire plan that Israel agreed to. Hamas refused to cease hostilities. Later, Israel agreed to a temporary truce, the pause requested by Hamas to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Despite Israeli cooperation, Hamas quickly violated the cease-fire, resuming rocket launches into Israeli territory.
Hamas’ actions seek to kill and terrorize those across the Israeli border while they also do great harm to the people of Gaza. Ending the rocket attacks would hasten the end to the current violence and bloodshed that has taken a disproportionate toll on Gazan lives.
On July 17, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution to express American support for Israel’s self-defense efforts and called for an immediate cessation of Hamas' attacks against Israel. Senate Resoultion 498 also serves as a reminder to anyone ascribing legitimacy to Hamas’ deadly aggression toward Israel; despite any governing agreement with Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ violence is not legitimate in the eyes of the United States of America. Since 1997, Hamas has been included on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. The group’s ongoing attack on civilian targets further justifies this designation.
Hamas’ participation in a unity government limits improvements to life in Gaza as American law restricts U.S. aid to Palestinian groups aligned with terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Gaza’s poor economic condition that state that it’s in, which is cited by Hamas as justification for their attacks on Israel, has not at all improved by Hamas’ belligerence. Instead, Hamas’ strategy of violence only worsens Gaza’s economic outlook. Hamas’ actions compound the consequences of funding weapons and smuggling tunnels rather than investing in the future of Gaza and its people. The point being that what Hamas is doing is damaging to the people of not only Israel but to the folks who live in Gaza.
This reality begs observers to question Hamas's commitment to the people it supposedly represents. Since the beginning of the current conflict, Hamas's commitment to violence against Israel appears to be their primary mission, not the care and well being of their people. Unless
cessation of hostilities becomes Hamas’ priority, Israel will retain and must retain the right to defend its people and the welfare of those living in Gaza will regretfully continue to deteriorate.
Americans would not tolerate this. We would not. Our constituents would be insistent that we not tolerate the threat of terrorism that Israel faces on a daily basis. Since 1947, attacks from its neighboring Arab states have repeatedly forced Israel to defend its people.
This Senate has and will continue to demonstrate that the United States of America stands with Israel, especially during these turbulent times as Israel takes necessary action to reduce Hamas’ means of terror, to disarm those who stand firmly in the way of a real and lasting peace.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, met with United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell Wednesday to discuss health care topics important to Kansans.
“As I travel across the state visiting with patients, hospital administrators, doctors and other health care providers, almost every discussion involves concerns with the burdens Washington policies place on our providers as they work to care for Kansans,” Sen. Moran said. “Kansans are strongly opposed to the Obama Administration’s proposals to cut reimbursements to Critical Access Hospitals and eliminate hospitals from this essential rural health program. I explained to Secretary Burwell how the Administration’s policies would jeopardize the survival of many rural hospitals and endanger access to health care in our own communities. I appreciate the Secretary’s willingness to meet with me, and I look forward to a renewed dialogue with her and her team on a range of health care topics important to our state.”
In addition to discussing the importance of hospitals to the rural health care delivery system, Sec. Burwell and Sen. Moran visited about the urgent need to improve the Medicare’s Recovery Audit Contractor program, the unprecedented influx of unaccompanied children from Central America arriving at the United States border, and the valuable role that pharmacists play in delivering health care in their communities.
Background
During Sec. Burwell’s time as director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administration proposed cuts to Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and to eliminate hospitals from the CAH program based on an arbitrary geographic mileage criteria. CAHs are small, rural hospitals that receive enhanced Medicare reimbursements to provide care to an increasingly aging population across wide rural areas. Kansas has 83 of these hospitals, more than any other state.
Sen. Moran has heard from many Kansas hospitals and health care providers who are frustrated with the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program. They have been forced to divert significant resources away from caring for patients to appeal incorrect audit decisions that are ultimately overturned. He has raised several concerns about this program in letters to HHS, at Appropriations Committee hearings and through language included in the FY2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill and FY2015 Senate Labor-Health-Education Appropriations bill. We need to achieve a balance of safeguarding Medicare finances while avoiding costly burdens on hospitals and health care providers that are affecting their ability to care for patients.
The RAC program focuses on post-payment reviews of Medicare claims from health care providers to prevent improper payments, but unfortunately flaws in the program are yielding incorrect audit results. This broken program is unreasonably burdening providers, and has created a two-year appeals backlog at HHS’ Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA). According to the HHS Inspector General, 56 percent of RAC appeals are reversed at OMHA, while several Kansas hospitals have appeal-win rates around 95 percent. Earlier this month, HHS provided an update about its working group focused on addressing the Medicare appeals backlog at OMHA. The objective of this working group is to adopt proposals at HHS to address problems with the RAC program and reduce the appeals backlog.
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On Tuesday, July 22, 2014, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, called on the Senate to not recess in August until a conference committee report on the Veterans Choice Act of 2014 is finalized. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted that the conference committee would fail to come to a compromise.
Kansas Staffer for Sen. Jerry Moran Returns Home
Jul 22 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) announced that Ashland, Kan., native Tyler York is returning to Kansas to serve as his new district representative. York will represent Sen. Moran in the state – primarily in Southwest Kansas – when he is working on behalf of Kansans in Washington, D.C.
“I’m delighted to have Tyler back in the state serving Kansans as a district representative,” Sen. Moran said. “Born, raised and educated in Kansas, Tyler understands first-hand the challenges facing our state. I am confident that he will serve Kansans well in his position.”
York added, “While serving fellow Kansans in Washington, D.C., has been a great privilege, I couldn’t be more thrilled to move back home and continue that service in Kansas.”
York previously served as a legislative correspondent in Sen. Moran’s Washington, D.C. office where he focused on a myriad of issues related to agriculture, energy, the United States Postal Service and the Second Amendment. York has a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University, and he will reside in Wichita, Kan.
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Sen. Moran Supports VA Secretary Nominee
Jul 16 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, met with the nominee for Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Bob McDonald, in Sen. Moran’s Washington, D.C. office. Mr. McDonald is a veteran and the former Proctor & Gamble CEO.
“This afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with the nominee for Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Bob McDonald,” Sen. Moran said. “I was impressed by his candor, sincerity and commitment to serving our nation’s veterans. Mr. McDonald shares my dedication to seeing that veterans receive the best quality care they deserve from an agency that is worthy of their service, and I plan to support his nomination. The VA bureaucracy must be dismantled, and Mr. McDonald is focused and ready to take on the many challenges that lie ahead. I look forward to working with Mr. McDonald when he is confirmed as the new VA Secretary.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. McDonald will become Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs was established in 1930 to assist all veterans who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act (H.R. 1528) – originally introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Angus King (I-Maine) – which would allow veterinarians to carry and dispense controlled substances to protect the health and welfare of the nation’s animals, ensure public safety, and safeguard the nation’s food supply. The legislation – introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) – passed the House last week.
The bipartisan legislation is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.).
“The passage of this legislation is important for the veterinarians who help ensure public safety and care for animals in Kansas and across the country,” Sen. Moran said. “By legalizing the transportation and dispensation of controlled substances, licensed practitioners will be equipped with the tools they need. It is particularly important for practitioners who work in rural areas, conduct research or respond to emergency situations.”
“The passage of this bill is a victory for rural farmers and veterinarians across the country – from the small dairy farms of central Maine, to the expansive ranches of California, and everywhere in between,” Sen. King said. “This bill’s success is also a powerful reminder that when we work across the aisle to find common ground, we can actually accomplish common goals in Washington.”
“The Veterinary Mobility Act is a big win for animal health, public health, and rural communities across the country. By ensuring that veterinarians can travel to their patients to administer safe, humane care, we can better serve animals and protect our nation’s food supply,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“I am pleased that the full House and Senate could agree to help our veterinarians,” Sen. Roberts said. “This commonsense legislation allows registered veterinarians to better practice veterinary medicine, which often requires traveling to farms and fields away from their office location.”
“This legislation eliminates an unnecessary bureaucratic rule that clearly didn’t recognize that veterinary care, by its very nature, is not limited to clinics,” Sen. Thad Cochran said. “Removing this requirement for licensed, registered veterinarians will give them the freedom to do the work we count on to ensure public safety, our food supply and animal welfare.”
“A ‘house call’ is likely just what the doctor ordered. Forcing a farmer to load a sick animal into a trailer for a possibly long trip to the vet’s office is simply not a practical solution,” Sen. Grassley said. “The burden of this particular interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act is nonsensical and may put the animal and the farmer at risk by having to transport the animal.”
“Wyoming veterinarians will be soon be able to provide better care to livestock thanks to legislation the Senate passed overwhelmingly today. Allowing vets to carry and dispense the medicine their patients need into the field will have an immediate impact in rural and remote areas where transporting livestock to the nearest town just isn’t practical or possible,” Sen. Enzi said.
“It simply makes sense to clarify federal law to ensure that licensed veterinarians have the ability to travel with the medicines that they need to treat their animal patients,” said Sen. Collins.
The 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA) stipulates that controlled substances must be stored and dispensed at the specific address veterinarians have on file with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA enforces the CSA and has informed organized veterinary medicine that without a statutory change, veterinarians are in violation and cannot legally provide complete veterinary care.
The practice of veterinary medicine requires veterinarians to treat patients in a variety of settings; farm calls, mobile clinics, shelters, research and disease control activities, emergency response situations, and removal or transfer of dangerous wildlife.
The legislation is endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association and now awaits President Obama’s signature before becoming law.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), along with U.S. Representatives Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.), Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) and Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), have requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) postpone Friday’s scheduled vote on reforms proposed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to E-Rate – a program intended to support communications services for schools and libraries nationwide. Sen. Moran recently penned a column in The Wichita Eagle along with FCC member Ajit Pai, a Kansas native, outlining their serious concerns that the E-Rate program – which is meant to close the digital divide – is actually making it worse for rural schools. Sen. Moran and Commissioner Pai have proposed commonsense reforms, including simplifying the application process and providing certainty to schools, which could fix that.
Please find the full text of the letter to Chairman Wheeler below:
Chairman Wheeler,
We write to express concerns about the E-Rate modernization plan that will soon be considered by the Commission. We share the goal of providing every American student an opportunity to obtain a 21st Century education, including access to broadband, but we are concerned the plan you have put forward warrants further deliberation.
When the E-Rate modernization plan was first proposed, the Commission touted the plan as a bipartisan effort to make commonsense changes to the program for the first time in 18 years. As the public has learned more about the FCC’s plan, significant bipartisan opposition to the plan has emerged. There is great benefit to simplifying the application process, transitioning the fund to support modern technology, and making certain both rural and urban schools can benefit while providing Americans the most value for their dollar. We are concerned the plan falls short on these goals.
American students deserve the tools necessary to compete in the digital economy for next-generation jobs. While modernizing the E-Rate program is critical to helping achieve that goal, the underlying policy is too important to quickly rush to a vote. We urge you to delay the vote on the E-Rate modernization plan so that the Commission can make certain the proposed changes will serve all American students in the most efficient and effective manner possible.
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Kansas Delegation Ensures Rural Fire Departments Have Resources Needed To Protect Local Communities
Jul 09 2014
WASHINGTON, DC – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) have reached an agreement to again allow states through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) and Firefighter Programs to continue to receive equipment managed through these programs. The EPA recently halted the transfer of surplus military equipment to states and local governments that is used for firefighting and law enforcement. Yesterday, the Kansas Congressional Delegation sent a letter to EPA and the U.S. Army TACOM requesting they re-implement the use of military vehicles for rural fire departments. After the agreement from the EPA and DLA, the Kansas Congressional Delegation released the following statement:
“We are pleased the administration acted in a timely manner and has decided to continue this successful program of equipment transfers. These vehicles are an important lifeline and safety tool for our rural communities. Local fire departments across Kansas and the nation will once again be able to utilize excess equipment to save lives and protect their communities.”
Please note the letter (attached and below) from the KS Delegation to the EPA and U.S. Army TACOM:
July 8, 2014
The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Administrator
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Major General Gwen Bingham
U.S. Army TACOM
AMSTA-CS-P
6501 E. 11 Mile Rd.
Warren, MI 48397-5000
Dear Administrator McCarthy and MG Bingham,
We are writing to you regarding an issue of great importance to Kansas and the safety of many of its small, rural communities. For more than 40 years, the Kansas Fire Service has transferred military vehicles to fire departments for use in their operations. These military vehicles, which are disposed of and transferred through the Defense Logistics Agency, are utilized by many Kansas Fire Departments. Currently, the Kansas Fire Service has 442 vehicles, originally valued at almost $23 million, in use by 81 Kansas counties. In Kansas many local fire departments are the first responders to any pipeline incident, and these vehicles provide them with the necessary capabilities to meet these obligations.
These transfers have a long history of being mutually beneficial to the Department of Defense and to state and local fire departments. As such, we find recent reports that the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army’s TACOM Life Cycle Management Command have suspended the current contract very troubling as it will have significant impacts on our local communities. Not only will new requests not be honored, but currently used vehicles will be unable to be repaired. These vehicles are providing essential services, and are being utilized on an as-needed basis. Thus, the environmental impact of these vehicles is small, as they are not being utilized in day-to-day operations.
Our local communities depend on these vehicles for public safety. This immediate termination puts local fire district in a potentially dangerous situation during a volatile tornado and weather season in Kansas, and could hamper efforts to respond to fire disasters and protect the local communities. We strongly encourage previously approved practices by the EPA and Department of Defense in this regard to be re-implemented immediately. We appreciate your consideration and timely response to this request.
Sincerely,
Pat Roberts
United States Senator
Jerry Moran
United States Senator
Lynn Jenkins, CPA
Member of Congress
Mike Pompeo
Member of Congress
Kevin Yoder
Member of Congress
Tim Huelskamp
Member of Congress
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Sens. Moran and Roberts Work to Protect Producers from Consequences of Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing
Jul 09 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) introduced an amendment to the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014 to prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior from altering any land management practices based on the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species.
“As conservation efforts for the Lesser Prairie Chicken are considered, farmers and ranchers deserve the flexibility to implement plans that fit their operations,” Sen. Moran said. “I am committed to making certain the measures implemented are based on sound science and common sense, as well as represent the best interest of producers. We will continue to do what we can to resolve the problem and avoid thwarting industries vital to our state’s economy.”
“Just as we thought, in Kansas, the Lesser Prairie Chicken numbers are up in areas that have recently seen a little rain in this ongoing, multi-year drought,” Sen. Roberts said. “This amendment will protect farmers and ranchers, who are also suffering from the effects of drought, from having to change their operations and land management due to the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken.”
The amendment is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Background
Sens. Moran and Roberts have worked to avoid the Lesser Prairie Chicken’s listing. On June 13, 2013, the senators sent a bipartisan letter requesting a six-month delay to the LPC listing decision in order to provide the maximum amount of time to consider the LPC listing allowed under federal law. This resulted in an extension that allowed time for evaluation of the science behind the listing decision and for the five-state plan to demonstrate results. That letter was a follow-up to a letter on Feb. 20, 2013, requesting an extension to the comment period for the proposed threatened listing, which U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Director Dan Ashe agreed to provide within a week of the request.
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Madam President, while I was home over the recess, I had the opportunity to visit with lots of Kansans. One of the conversations I had was with a county emergency preparedness director in advance of a Fourth of July parade. He brought to my attention something we had heard just in the last few days about a development at the Department of Defense.
I want to mention to my colleagues and ask them, but ask the agencies involved — which would be the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency — to see if we cannot find a solution to a problem that should not be a problem.
In your home state, and mine, Madam President we have lots of volunteer fire departments. One of the developments over time has been their equipment is excess military equipment that is either loaned or given to those small town fire departments. They are volunteers. In my hometown, the fire whistle blows and men and women from across the community gather at the fire station, get in the truck, and go to the fire and fight the fire.
Their equipment is expensive and the budget they have to fulfill their mission is small. One way they have been able to overcome that small budget and expensive equipment is through the Department of Defense, which has, over a long period of time, donated excess military equipment to the local fire departments. They do this through the State forester. In fact, 95 percent of the communities in Kansas are protected by a volunteer fire department and 50 million acres of land is protected by volunteer fire departments.
Well, 3 weeks ago, the Department of Defense halted the transfer of excess trucks, generators, pumps, and engine parts, based upon emissions regulations and an agreement that apparently exists between the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA, apparently, has to approve the transfer of those vehicles because they may not satisfy the clean air standards. So what seems to me to be a commonsense solution to the need for fire equipment — including trucks — is now being halted because of concerns of whether those vehicles — those old vehicles no longer used by the Department of Defense — meet the emissions standards.
Well, I would certainly first remind folks that these trucks are very important when there is a fire, but there is not a fire every day. It is not as if these vehicles are on the road in a constant fashion day in and day out. I would also indicate that the fires they put out increase emissions, so the marginal increase in the amount of emissions because you may be using a fire truck that does not meet the emissions standards is well overcome by the fire that burns the grass, the forest, the trees or a home by what that fire puts into the atmosphere.
Since January 1 of this year, there have been nearly 92,000 acres burned in more than 5,000 wild land fires — grass fires — across Kansas.
For most of those rural fire departments, the Federal excess equipment is the only equipment they can afford to handle those natural or manmade disasters.
The Kansas Forest Service, as I said, administers this program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They provided 40 to 50 trucks per year, and they were able to set aside again that number for Kansas — 40 to 50 trucks — for Kansas fire departments for this year.
We currently have 445 trucks issued in Kansas, valued at about $21 million, and there are 52 fire departments in Kansas waiting for a replacement truck.
The Department of Defense’s decision to implement this policy will cost fire departments in Kansas and across the country the opportunity to utilize excess equipment, save lives, and protect property.
My request is that my colleagues who have an interest in this issue work with me and others and help us bring to the attention of the Secretary of Defense, Secretary Hagel, and the EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, as well as USDA, which administers the program for the fire departments, that we work together to find a commonsense solution.
Apparently the alternative is if these trucks are not available to be transferred to Kansas and elsewhere, to local fire departments, then the trucks are destroyed, smashed, and somehow disposed of in a landfill. Again, I would suggest that the conservation, the environmental opportunity to see the life of these vehicles extended, as compared to being destroyed, smashed, and disposed of, would work in the favor of the environment as well as in the opportunity to provide safety and security for hundreds of thousands of Kansans, hundreds of thousands of Americans, who depend upon rural fire departments, hometown fire departments, to meet the needs of their safety and security.
It seems to me we are asking for something simple. We just need a little common sense and cooperation among an agency and two departments. I would ask my colleagues that you help me find a solution to this problem by getting those agencies, the Department of Defense in particular, to explain why this is a good policy with such detriment to the American people.
