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Moran touches on variety of topics on tour
Published 2/20/2008 in News : Politics
By EMILY BEHLMANN
ebehlmann@gctelgram.com
HOLCOMB -- Energy independence, affordable health care, improved federal education policies and a strong Farm Bill top Congressman Jerry Moran's agenda for the 2008 Congressional session, he told local constituents Tuesday.
As part of his Big First Listening Tour of the 69 counties in his district, Moran talked with 10 residents at Holcomb High School in the morning, before moving on to Cimarron Tuesday afternoon.
Without specific mention of the proposed expansion of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.'s Holcomb plant, or carbon dioxide emissions regulations now under discussion in the Kansas Legislature, Moran emphasized the need for "a more aggressive approach to energy independence" and use of alternative power sources.
Yet he said methods like wind power can't fully replace coal, just as biofuels currently aren't capable of replacing the need for oil.
He said he supports drilling for oil in Alaska to reduce dependence on foreign oil, which he said is a danger for national security. Greater movement toward ethanol -- possibly with more choices at the pump than just E10 and E85 -- would be beneficial to Kansans and the nation, Moran said.
"I think ethanol is worthy of our support because we're keeping our money at home," he said.
Moran also said that reducing the cost of fuel, and bringing down health care costs, would be good means of improving the economy and the financial situation of citizens.
These steps, he said, would make more sense than trying to boost the economy with the economic stimulus package signed by President Bush last week.
Moran was one of 35 representatives to vote against the plan, which will issue checks to tax-paying citizens of up to $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples and $300 for each dependent, depending on income level and tax liability, in hopes people will spend the money.
"It didn't make sense to me to borrow $168 billion of money we don't have," he said. "I'm not convinced it would stimulate the economy."
Garden City resident Lon Pishny, of Pishny Financial Services, said Tuesday that Moran's vote on the economic stimulus package was a good one -- "and I'm saying that as a financial planner," he said. He said he doesn't anticipate the plan will be effective in delivering a significant economic boost.
Pishny also said he appreciated Moran's stance on the No Child Left Behind Act, which the Congressman said he would like to see repealed or significantly revised.
"No Child Left Behind is chasing teachers away," Pishny said.
For each school, the act mandates an incrementally increasing percentage of students each year achieve "proficient" scores on state reading and math assessments, with the goal of hitting 100 percent proficiency by 2014. Schools that don't reach the targets see sanctions, like using some of their funds toward parent-selected tutoring services, or reorganization of the school.
Moran said the testing and documentation required reduce the appeal of a career in education at a time of teacher shortage. In addition, focus on the tested subjects is taking time away from subjects like arts, physical and vocational education.
He said he also disagrees with the idea that "99 percent of us are all the same," and that expectations should vary based on students' ability levels, not just their grade levels.
The Congressman has sponsored a bill that would introduce "growth models" to the legislation. Under this concept, states would track individual students' progress as they move up grade levels, instead of just comparing scores of particular grade levels from year to year.
The No Child Left Behind Act is up for reauthorization this year, but because of Bush's strong support for the legislation, Moran said he wonders if major changes will have to wait until there's a new president in office.
Another big piece of legislation to be reauthorized this year is the Farm Bill, though Moran said he hopes that bill will be finalized within a few months.
He said he thinks that in general, most of his constituents support current Farm Bill measures. He'd like to preserve ideas like direct payments, annual, fixed payments given to farmers based on the average they produced each year in the past.
Moran's district has been hit with everything from tornadoes to ice storms to floods in the past year, and he said crop insurance is also important to many of his constituents.
Another area Moran discussed was veterans' affairs. Garden City resident Roy Dixon said he appreciated Moran's efforts toward outreach of veterans' affairs services in rural areas.
Moran was among legislators supporting access to mental health services with the coming Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Hutchinson that will address mental health. He also said he supported a recent step that increased the mileage reimbursement rate from 11 cents to 28.5 cents for veterans who travel to a Veterans' Affairs hospital.
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