U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was the guest speaker at the Tuesday noon Rotary Club meeting in at the Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center Junction City.
Moran easily won re-election in the November 8th general election against Democratic challenger Patrick Weisner and Libertarian Robert Garrard.
Moran addressed several topics during the meeting:
On taking his rural perspective to the Nation’s Capital:
“I see myself as someone who has an opportunity, a responsibility to make sure that rural is not forgotten; we continue to attention to issues that in my view are very Kansas oriented.”
On healthcare:
“I have visited each and every hospital in our state to make sure that they are alive and well, that their doors remain open, that we’re able to attract physicians and other healthcare providers to our communities – because I know, that in the absence of access to healthcare, our communities will not be here in the future.”
On economic development and small business success:
“At best if our communities were holding their own, that was considered success, and what I take from that is – what government does – local, state, federal – in regard to the fixed cost of being in business, if you don’t have more people to sell more things to – when the cost of business goes up the chance of your success goes down.”
“Economic development can be whether or not there is a grocery store in town…when Greensburg was struck by the tornado, one of the most common questions we got from people who live in Greensburg is ‘is Dillon’s going to rebuild their grocery store, because that will be a significant determining factor in whether or not we decide to stay in our hometown’…and I’m not of the view that government’s role is to say that every certain number of square miles or per capita that you have to have a grocery store – this isn’t about passing a law, it’s about creating an environment in which a grocery store has a better chance of success, the fixed cost of being in business are as low as possible and therefore they can stay in business longer.”
National Debt:
“Some of my Republican colleagues and many of my Democrat colleagues have decided that debt doesn’t matter…I think we need a major discussion in this country on what do we want from the Federal Government…and once we reach that conclusion, it’s immoral for us not pay for things…and I want less (interference) from Washington, not more, I’m in part a Republican because I believe in government closest to home, you have more ability to influence your county commissioners than you do members of Congress…”
“We won’t have a strong economy if we don’t pay our way, and we won’t have a strong economy if we rely on government to do everything
Military and Department of Veterans Affairs:
“One of things that I can report is that the National Defense Authorization Bill is about to be resolved, it’s expected to be voted on this Winter before we recess and our swearing in and the President’s inauguration, and NDA is expected to increase the amount of money authorized to eliminate the need for further reductions in troop strength and that’s good news for us at Fort Riley.”
“I have a love, hate relationship with the Department of Veterans Affairs…a department that is way too much bureaucracy, way too much ingrained in leadership, way too much protecting their posteriors, not much accountability and our Veterans deserve something significantly different than what we have.”
As discussion and review continue in Junction City about the possible need for a new high school, one member of the Board of Education, Brian Field, feels it’s important to remember this is a fluid process. “We’ve had our community survey, glad to see that. We’ve got our steering committee that is meeting right now. I think we just need to take this all in and digest this, but really in the end what they come to us and recommend in January, coupled with the survey is what’s really going to be what we need to take in as a school board.”
