a fellow kansan from johnson county was in my office earlier this spring. she has immunosuppressive diseases and under private insurance had funding, she had medication that would allow her to fight off the common cold and flu. when she visited my office she was suffering from the flu and was afraid to shake hands. she had left a life where she was completely able to function, should play with her grandchildren, shop, be productive, unfortunately when she switched to medicare the government would not find her therapy or medications she was forced to take new medication which provided her with headaches and backaches and it did not protect her from diseases such as the common cold. when she came to my office, she was considering wearing a mask and worried about

frederic and kansans were meant for each other. dr. frederic is perhaps best known for his bold hire of then unknown assistant basketball coach roadway williams -- roy williams in 1989. williams, who would achieve the winningest decade of any first-time head coach in ncaa history, said of dr. frederic, he is the finest gentleman i've ever known in my life. a basketball coach himself at russell and laurence high schools as well as coffeyville community college in kaas, dr. frederic was cherished on all sides of our state. i wish to offer this tribute to an outstanding gentleman, dr. frederic, and express my sincere condole ens to his wife and their four sons. my thoughts and prayers with their their family. i -- with are with their family. i yield back the balance. the speaker pro tempore: mr. altmire of pennsylvania. mr. altmire: madam speaker, to bore a catch phrase from hall of fame hockee announcer mike lang, you can buy sam a drink and get his dog one, too, lord stanley's cup is making a return visit to the city of champions. in pi

i want every single kansan, every single american to be able to see the doctor of their choice when they want to, especially when they have to. and i speak today because this health care reform bill will likely involve one of the biggest, most important votes that i or any one of my colleagues cast during the time that we are privileged to serve in the senate of the united states. this health care reform bill will affect the lives of every single american. it will reform a system that drives one-sixth of our economy over 16 million american jobs. it will have consequences for medical science and innovation that improves the lives of not only those of us in this great country but all across the world. when people are really sick, they come to the united states. and it will spend upwards of $2 trillion -- $2 trillion -- that our children and grandchildren will have to someday repay. if we are going to do this, we cannot afford to get it wrong. for this reason, i initiated a letter just about a week ago on behalf of all my republican colleagues on the senate finance committee, on the "help"

kansans who must already travel great distances to work and school and to receive medical care will pay disproportionately compared to those who have shorter distances to travel and can use public transportation. many hoped that rural america would be made whole under in bill, but this is clearly not the case. agriculture is not mentioned once in the section that defines offsets. instead, h.r. 2454 directs the e.p.a. to define the world of caon offsets this will lead to few benefits for farmers and ranchers and will allow e.p.a. to further intrude on our farms. e.p.a. has made harmful decisions that failed the test of common sense. unless agriculture offsets are express dihi defined, farmers will never see benefits from this legislation. even if those offsets are defined and usda is given the authority, it's hard to see how agriculture will overcome the increased cost of using this cap and tax system. in the best-case scenario under backman-markey a farmer could mitigate 10% to 15% of the cost, in the worst-case scenario, farmers and ranchers could find themselves unable to use the offs

my fellow kansan, the distinguished member of the second district of can a. ms. jenkins, has worked hard on this issue. the region is experiencing high growth due to the ongoing troop buildup of fort riley. the city of manhattan, kansas, and riley county are cooperating to provide municipal level services among the corridor near fort riley. strong interest has been expressed in the area by the developmental community. and there have been limitations on future growth on the manhattan's west side. in the 2003 update of the manhattan urban area comprehensive plan, which was a joint planning initiative with the city and county, specifically identifies the k-177 gateway area as a potential urban growth corridor if municipal level services are provided. that's why the city could not wait on the sewer line project. it is already underway and being managed by the county. the city will be responsible for the design, bidding, and overseeing the water project. the cost of both the water and sewer projects will be shared by the federal government, city of manhattan, and rile

it is good to be with the committee today and i appreciate the greetings from my fellow kansan and ranking member of the subcommittee representative tiahrt and it's good to have mr. lewis today. i appreciate the opportunity to come and discuss the president's 2010 budget for the department of health and human services and this does mark my first appearance before the committee is secretary and i want to thank members of the committee for your hard work and leadership. i know we face tremendous challenges in the nation today and i hope we can work together to tackle those challenges. one task we need to complete to get there is health reform. and as you consider the budget before you you and your colleagues are working on a historic effort to reform health care system. like you i know america cannot simply afford the status quo when it comes to health care. we have all heard from people throughout the country who don't know what they will do if they or their children fall ill. to many families in america are one illness or accident away from financial ruin. businesses are suffering as well.