Support Independent Farms

Independent farmers provide our nation with the safest and most plentiful food supply in the world, and Kansas has long been a leader in this great American tradition. Our state is responsible for one fifth of all wheat produced in the United States, and in 2000 alone, Kansas produced 412 million bushels of corn!

But today, big agribusinesses have used their Washington influence to set policies that undercut independent and family farmers. Large farms are glutting the marketplace with mass-produced food, causing wholesale prices to drop below a level where independent farmers can compete. Droughts and heat waves have caused billions of dollars in damage to farms over the past few years. And now budget cuts to agriculture and rural development are making things even harder. After generations of financial success, many farms are closing down forever, destroying a crucial element of our state's heritage.

Worse yet, the loss of independent farms risks the traditional safety of our crops. After all, is America safer when our food supply is concentrated in the hands of three or four multinational corporations?

I say no! In Congress, I'll fight to cultivate opportunities for our hardworking independent farmers.

Protect the 2002 Farm Bill

I support the tradition of family farming, and I'll work to ensure the future success of this Kansas way of life. That's why I supported the 2002 Farm Bill, which pledged funds for rural broadband internet access, firefighters, and emergency personnel. The bill's water and wastewater improvement projects also provided sewage treatment and improved water quality for homes and crops, while measures to upgrade energy efficiency and development helped to reduce power costs. The Farm Bill also included grants and loans for value-added processing facilities -- centers where local farmers and growers send their goods to be packaged and processed into high-quality products.

Unfortunately, some representatives in Congress are working to undermine this progress. I believe the 2002 Farm Bill was a bipartisan promise to America's family farms and farming communities, and I'll fight in Congress to keep that promise.

Strengthen the Highway Trust Fund

Kansas businesses and farmers need a way to transport their goods to the marketplace. This means keeping roads and highways in good condition for the long distances that separate rural areas both from each other and from other parts of the country. I'll work to ensure that our transportation infrastructure is suitable for Kansas businesses to deliver their goods on time and in a cost-effective manner.

That's why I support the Highway Trust Fund, a federal program that uses taxes on highway motor fuel, trucks, and heavy vehicles to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of our national highway network. I believe the money collected from fuel taxes should be devoted to maintaining our highways and roads -- the lifeline for our agricultural communities.

Rein in the National Debt

Running a fiscally responsible federal government requires discipline in two distinct areas.  First, Congress must never waste a single taxpayer dime on needless spending -- and, just as important, Congress must never reduce America's revenue below the level needed to sustain a strong, safe, and free nation.

My opponent has failed on both levels.

Wasteful spending has increased exponentially in recent years.  For instance, according to one Congressional Research Service study, the amount of money spent on "earmarks" has more than doubled in recent years.  I'll support legislative rules changes to ensure that proposed federal spending is subjected to a competitive awards process that values national necessity over political gain.

Even as wasteful spending has exploded, the recent tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans have dramatically decreased the federal government's income.  Although I believe that tax cuts may serve a role in a responsible fiscal stimulus package, the recent cuts were financed by irresponsible government borrowing and have decreased our country's fiscal security during wartime -- a dual threat to America's stability.  I will support a rollback of these reckless, regressive tax cuts.

Increase the Minimum Wage

Since my opponent took office in 1996, he has repeatedly, consistently voted to increase his own pay.  The total increase has amounted to $31,600.  His current salary is an incredible $165,200.

But while my opponent and other members of Congress have ensured that their own wages rise every year, they have allowed the minimum wage to stagnate since 1997.  At $5.15 an hour, a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $10,700 a year -- well below the poverty line.  Until Congress acts to increase the pay of the Americans who earn the very least, it is unconscionable to increase
their own already enormous salaries to ever-higher levels.

I support legislation to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. At least 7.3 million people would benefit from this raise, including 1.8 million parents with children. 

We must support the businesses that support our families and our communities.  Right now, huge international corporations get all the breaks; they get most of the help.  Our independent businesses are hurting badly from high taxes and impossibly high healthcare costs.  As we raise the minimum wage, we must find ways of helping our Kansas small business with taxes and healthcare costs. 

Encourage Fair Trade Agreements

America should continue to expand the global economy through new fair trade agreements, as opposed to today's "free trade" agreements.  "Free" here is meant only in the sense of "unrestricted"; these agreements do nothing to guarantee freedom to foreign workers, nor adequate compensation for their work, nor reasonable protections for their environment.

When workers in other countries are guaranteed some of the same benefits extended to American workers, it will help everyone:  overseas workers will receive decent protections, and Americans will stop watching their good jobs turn into exploitive jobs overseas.

Expand Access to Higher Education

Higher education is America's great equalizer. Children born into at-risk homes or low-income families can build a better future for themselves through college or technical training... but only if these institutions remain affordable to those who need them most.

Yet tuition costs at Kansas universities are rising as much as twenty percent a yearófar faster than most Kansans' incomes. Worse, financial aid programs aren't keeping up with this pace, leaving far too many students unable to afford the educations they deserve.

The single most effective federal grant program aimed at helping low-income students achieve higher
education is the Pell Grant. Over the past thirty-five years, Pell Grants have proven critical in making education accessible to allóbut the portion of costs covered by the grants has shrunk dramatically over time.
In 1979, a Pell Grant covered as much as 77% of the costs of tuition, room, and board. Now, that number is just 40%.

I support a modest increase in the maximum Pell Grant to help ensure that all Americans, not just those born into privileged families, can receive a superb education.

Fully Fund Kansas Schools

Kansas teachers are among the most dedicated and qualified in the nation, and with our help, they can provide our children with the best education America can offer.

But I worry that we're not fully supporting our educators. Almost every day, I read about a new financial crisis at a Kansas school. Rural schools cannot afford the latest technology, and cutbacks throughout Kansas are forcing schools to reduce spending, often by cutting teachers, music and art programs.

One reason our schools can't afford these essential resources is that they're forced to pay for massive federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind. These mandates set ambitious goals to improve education and promise financing to meet these strict requirements... but year after year, Congress fails to provide its promised funding.

In Congress, I'll ensure that the federal government either fixes these mandates and funds them at authorized levels or else permits states to opt out of the laws' requirements.

Offer Kansas Children a Head Start

Head Start and Early Head Start are remarkably successful programs. Over three decades, they have consistently helped millions of at-risk children receive better health care, increased educational opportunities, and greater success in kindergarten and their later lives.

Yet despite this proven record, the federal government provides only enough funding to reach three out of five children eligible for Head Start nationwide, and Kansas cut its funding to Early Head Start by $300,000 in 2003. Thanks to dedicated parents and teachers, some children denied access to Head Start are nonetheless succeeding... but many are not.

I believe that Head Start is an investment in our childrenóan investment that more than pays for itself in reduced costs for remedial education, savings from lower crime rates, and increase earnings later in life.

In Congress, I'll be a strong advocate for this vital investment in our future.

Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil

America has needed a sound energy policy since the 1970s, and Congress's failure to address our addiction to fossil fuels has left our children's future in danger. Until we achieve true energy independence, our national security is jeopardized by the foreign nations we rely on for oil.

To resolve this crisis, we must overhaul our national energy policy within the next 18-24 months.

Does this sound impossible? Perhaps -- but so did John F. Kennedy's words when, forty years ago, he rallied our country from fear to greatness, saying, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and to do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." The American people have cleared every obstacle ever set before us, and together, we will conquer the problems -- both technological and political -- of establishing true energy independence.

Here's how. First, America must catch up with the technology curve and embrace the alternative fuel technologies that are already under development elsewhere in the world. Second, we must establish meaningful CAFE standards for motor vehicles and devote national attention to increasing energy efficiencies in homes and businesses. Third, we must fund an all-out R&D program aimed at delivering sustainable energy independence within 10 years. This ambitious program will create millions of good-paying jobs, free the nation from imported oil, promote a healthier environment, and perhaps most importantly, return a sense of hope to the American people.

Fund Renewable Energy Research

My advocacy for independent farms includes support for research into innovative uses for their crops. Corn, wheat, and sorghum can be used to create ethanol, and soybeans can be used to make biodiesel fuel. These renewable energy sources are cleaner than gas and coal, and their use nationwide would ease our dependence on foreign oil. Varied uses for crops translates to better sales for Kansas farmers: widespread adoption of ethanol as a fuel source could increase net farm income by $4.5 billion and add $.30 to the value of every bushel of corn.

Additionally, I believe Kansas should lead America in the adoption of wind power. Our state is the third-windiest in the nation, so we are privileged with an abundant supply of this free, clean, safe power. I'll support federal incentives to promote the development of wind technology.

Establish a Realistic Plan for Iraq

The three-year-long Iraq war has cost thousands of American lives and has left Iraq without a functioning government. This chaos is a direct result of the current administration's poor planning for the occupation of Iraq. Due to their failures, Iraq has become a training ground for terrorists, who may pose a greater threat to our security than Saddam Hussein ever did.

Out of respect for the Iraqi people and in honor of the American patriots who have already died, we have stayed for over three years and helped Iraq restore at least minimal government functions. But our assistance cannot be a blank check extending indefinitely. "Stay the course" is a political slogan, not a military strategy.

The administration must establish a responsible, realistic plan for dealing with the insurgency and a timeline during which the Iraqi citizens must establish a viable government for themselves.

Win the War on Terrorism

The global war on terrorism must, first and foremost, be a war against al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, the long and expensive war in Iraq has distracted from these threats. I fear we may be more vulnerable today, both to terrorist attacks and to attacks from rogue states such as North Korea, than we were on September 11th.

As America returns control of Iraq to the Iraqi people, I believe we should rededicate our military, economic, and intelligence resources to where they should have been all along: the aggressive pursuit of the terrorists responsible for September 11th and of those who today plot similarly devastating attacks. I also believe that America must sustain its investment in anti-terrorism initiatives at home and overseas, including funding programs to prevent agricultural terrorism here in the Midwest.

Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Arms

America must open communications with Iran's leaders in order to obtain a verifiable agreement by which Iran agrees to forgo the development of nuclear weapons.

This goal will be difficult to accomplish, but it is by no means impossible. For example, Iran and the United States have a shared stake in preventing the reemergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and in curbing the growth of drug trafficking throughout the region -- these among many other points of common interest. Through careful, conscientious, and diplomatic negotiations, I am certain America can achieve an agreement that ensures our own safety and extends a safer, freer future to the people of Iran.

President Eisenhower, one of the greatest military generals and later our President said that we should not be timid to go to the table and talk to representatives of countries with whom we differ. A jump to war in his words is the indication of the failure of mankind to conduct itself in a civil manner. He also admonished that this country should never engage in a pre-emptive war or we would be perceived in the end no better than any other aggressor nation.

Improve the Efficiency of America's Health Care

Millions of Americans never know whether their health coverage will be there when they need it.  Today, one in six Americans lack health insurance, and millions more are under-insured.  Although our country has the most advanced health care system in the world, many of us are facing increasing costs, difficulties finding care, and hassles from our insurance companies.

I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over twenty years, so I'm only too familiar with the inefficiencies in our system.  Fully a third of every dollar spent on health care in this country goes toward paperwork:  endless forms and reports devoted, in large part, to passing the buck from patient to insurer to government programs and then back to the patient again.

Most of the costs of this staggeringly inefficient system are borne by American corporations through insurance premiums.  This leaves our businesses in a hopeless struggle to compete with overseas competitors who enjoy far more efficient, and far less expensive, health care.

Some would suggest that the solution to America's health care crisis is to throw more money at the problem.  I say we're already spending enough.  WE spend twice as much per person as any other industrialized nation. We need only to spend our dollars more effectively -- and that means taking on the lobbyists who represent the big insurance and drug companies in Congress. 

America's health care policy is a matter of life and death.  The urgency to do something is underscored by our healthcare specialists that predict a total crisis is fast approaching.  From all indications we must have alternatives in place within 18 to 24 months. It should be crafted with American lives, and not corporate profits, in mind.

Reduce Prescription Drug Prices

Too many corporate executives place profits above patients.  The private system as presently constituted has failed to deliver healthcare at a reasonable cost in a predictable and uniform manner to our population. It is a system that has put our citizens at risk and employers terminating health care coverage or paying an ever increasing unmanageable cost.  In Congress, I'll fight to refocus the pharmaceutical industry on America's top priority: improving the health of our citizens.

I believe Congress must serve a key role in reducing the price of health care.  Almost every other industrialized nation negotiates for lower drug prices on behalf of their seniors; the VA does the same for America's veterans. But under current law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is explicitly forbidden from negotiating for lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

This restriction must be removed. When American law permits Medicare's forty million beneficiaries to work together, we'll see today's accelerating prices slow considerably and perhaps even drop to the levels that so many other nations enjoy today.

Reducing the cost of prescription drugs will help seniors afford the medications they need -- but that's not enough.  Congress must also act to close the "donut hole" created by the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act:  a $2,800 gap in coverage under which Medicare pays none of a senior's drug costs.  This hole affects almost a quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries and creates a real barrier to effective care.  I'll work in Congress to ensure that the "donut hole" never prevents Kansas seniors from affording excellent health care.

Restrict Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

I began my pharmaceutical career in 1981 in research and development at Marion Laboratories.  It was a well-run company, and my colleagues and I took our mission very seriously:  We were saving lives.

But over the years, the pharmaceutical industry changed around us.  Their focus shifted from patients to profits.

This change began, I believe, in 1985, when the FDA first permitted widespread advertising of prescription drugs.  Up until that time, pharmaceuticals could only be marketed in professional journals and similarly targeted venues; afterwards, advertisements could appear in mass-market magazines, in newspapers, and even on television.  In 1997 the FDA went even further and removed most of the remaining restrictions on prescription drug advertising.

In response to these rule changes, pharmaceutical companies' promotional expenses exploded.  Today, the prescription drug industry spends more on advertising than on research and development.

I believe that patients were overmedicated before 1997, and due to these rules changes, they're now even more overmedicated -- and only the prescription drug industry benefits from this trend.

I'll fight for common-sense improvements to our pharmaceutical laws, including returning the restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising to pre-1985 standards.

Crack Down on Illegal Immigration

For years, illegal immigration has gone virtually unchecked. Congress must take steps to regain control of America's borders.

First, we must immediately increase funding for border enforcement. Then, we should confront the root cause of most illegal border crossings: the promise of jobs for undocumented immigrants.

In order to prevent illegal hirings, we must create a workable system for verification of workers' eligibility for employment and then hold corporations responsible when they fail to exercise due diligence in their hiring practices.

When American corporations knowingly or negligently hire illegal workers, they lure immigrants into America, weaken our borders, and create unfair wage competition for American workers. This is unacceptable.

Inform Kansans of the NASCO Super Corridor

A consortium of American and Spanish companies is building a 4,000-mile-long, quarter-mile-wide highway from Mexico to Canada. Plans call for this so-called "SuperCorridor" to cross much of the Kansas Second District, so voters deserve to understand the implications of this highway's construction.

My opponent has publicly denied any knowledge of the SuperCorridor, despite his repeated votes to channel federal funds to the private organization responsible for superhighway project. His claim of ignorance permits only two interpretations: he either is knows about the SuperCorridor project and is refusing to inform Kansans of its progress, or, after 10 years in Congress, he is unaware of this crucial issue.

This SuperCorridor will blow a quarter-mile hole in our border with Mexico. It will be virtually impossible to control the flow of people, drugs, even weapons. At every coffee shop in the district there are serious discussions about why nothing has been or is being done to secure our borders. I believe thatís because Washington has never intended to secure them. On April 30, 2004, US Transporation Secretary Norman Mineta told the NASCO FORUM meeting in Texas that this highway (which has been in the planning for over 10 years) would finally achieve opening our borders with Mexico.

The purpose of this highway is to bring even more foreign-made goods into the USA from Asia. In June, 2006, Forbes Magazine stated that imports from Asia into the USA are increasing at a rate of 18% per year. Thatís doubling every 4-5 years. This supercorridor would eliminate the last barrier for bringing these goods into our country: transportation costs. We have seen 6 million American manufacturing jobs lost to free trade. Mexico had many of those jobs for a few years after NAFTA was passed and then global corporations moved them onto to China and India. This supercorriodor according to Forbes Magazine would accommodate the projected annual increase in Asian imports. Experience tells us that both our economy and the Mexican economy will suffer the loss of even more manufacturing jobs that form the backbone of jobs needed to raise families. We would see what is left of our manufacturing close down. It is predicted to be a final blow to the Mexican economy as well.

At the very least, the Second District deserves to hold an informed, public debate on the SuperCorridor's construction. I pledge to work for this openness and accountability as your representative in Congress.

Strengthen the Highway Trust Fund

Kansas businesses and farmers need a way to transport their goods to the marketplace. This means keeping roads and highways in good condition for the long distances that separate rural areas both from each other and from other parts of the country. I'll work to ensure that our transportation infrastructure is suitable for Kansas businesses to deliver their goods on time and in a cost-effective manner.

That's why I support the Highway Trust Fund, a federal program that uses taxes on highway motor fuel, trucks, and heavy vehicles to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of our national highway network. I believe the money collected from fuel taxes should be devoted to maintaining our highways and roads -- the lifeline for our agricultural communities.

Honor Our Veterans

The Americans who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq never hesitated when their nation called them to duty. I believe America owes her veterans the same unflinching support.

Yet federal lawmakers have consistently cut corners on veterans' programs, ignoring promises made when our soldiers were in the line of fire. As the daughter and wife of veterans, I consider this an unacceptable failure.

In Congress, I will fight to end this long history of neglecting our duty to our troops.

• Congress should ensure funding of veterans' health care. Currently the VA must submit an annual funding request to Congress, and every year veterans' opponents chip away at badly needed funds. Congress should once and for all guarantee VA appropriations. Not only will this benefit our veterans, but it will promote the economy of the Kansas Second District, which serves as the proud home of two VA hospitals.
  


• We should eliminate the Survivor Benefit Penalty, which unfairly penalizes hundreds of thousands of veterans' survivors, mainly widows. A bill to abolish this penalty received enormous bipartisan support and was cosponsored by three hundred members of Congress... but House leadership refused to bring the measure to a vote. Congress should move forward with this measure.
  


• Under current policy, when a veteran accepts disability payments for injuries received as a result of military service, that money is deducted from his retirement income. This is an unfair penalty. These veterans sacrificed their health for our freedom, and they deserve reasonable compensation for their disabilities.

We could never repay the debt that we owe our veterans -- and they don't ask us to. They only ask that we keep the promises originally extended by a grateful nation, and in Congress, I'll fight to see those promises fulfilled.