WASHINGTON—When Kansas lawmakers in Congress weren't seeking disaster aid for myriad weather catastrophes that hit the state in 2007, they were making progress in passing a new farm bill, boosting growth at Fort Riley and helping the state make the final cut for a new biodefense lab.
From tornadoes and blizzards to floods and freezes, the Federal Emergency Management issued four separate disaster declarations for Kansas in 2007.
"Every time I call FEMA, they say, `What next?' Maybe a plague of locusts," joked Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
Frequent weather calamities are one reason the new farm bill remains a top priority for Kansas. Both the House and Senate passed versions of a measure that generally leaves in place the amount of direct payments to farmers, despite the efforts of some lawmakers who wanted to cut the program.
Those payments are important to Kansas farmers because they provide assistance when freezes or floods wipe out crops. A final version of the bill is expected to pass early next year after differences between the House and Senate are resolved.
"I think we preserved the farm programs that are absolutely essential to our Kansas producers -- crop insurance and direct payments," Roberts said. "It's not the best possible bill, but it's the best bill possible under difficult circumstances."
Overall, the Democrat-controlled Congress could point to some major accomplishments. Wielding power in Congress for the first time in more than a decade, Democrats increased the minimum wage, cut financial aid costs for college students, implemented key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and passed an energy bill that boosts fuel economy standards in cars and requires refiners to use 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022 -- a six-fold increase over today.
The ethanol provision is expected to be a boon to farm states such as Kansas, where the fuel can be made from corn, sorghum and switchgrass.
But Democrats were forced to abandon some of their key goals in the face of Republican opposition. They sent President Bush $70 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars without a timetable for withdrawal sought by the party's liberal base. And Democrats extended a popular children's health insurance program without expanding it after repeated clashes with the White House.
Congress also approved a last-minute fix to keep 20 million people from getting hit by a major tax increase. But in doing so, Democratic leaders broke their pledge to offset any tax cut or spending increase with other moves that would avoid adding to the deficit.
"These have been good steps forward, but let's face it, Washington is a troubled town, weighed down by partisanship and infighting," said Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda, of Topeka. "I just hope that in 2008, we can bring Democrats and Republicans together and get our jobs done."
Boyda and Rep. Dennis Moore, of Lenexa, were among 64 Democrats who voted against the "patch" to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Moore, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats who push fiscal responsibility, said he could not support a measure that would saddle future generations with more debt.
Other victories for Kansas out of Washington included the Army's decision to station more than 1,300 additional troops at Fort Riley and news that Kansas State University was among five finalists chosen to compete for a new $450 million biodefense lab where killer germs like anthrax and avian flu will be studied.
Roberts in particular lobbied hard for the lab and believes Kansas stands a good chance at winning the facility when a final site is chosen in late 2008.
If history is a guide, Congress will be less productive next year in the midst of the presidential race. That contest won't include Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who abandoned his bid for the GOP nomination after losing Christian conservative support to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Since Brownback quit, Huckabee has surged in the polls.
"I've had a few moments of real envy watching the Huckabee campaign harvest the moments that we thought we could do," Brownback said.
Brownback, who missed 30 percent of his votes in the Senate this year, called his time as a presidential candidate "a fabulous experience that made me a better man and a better legislator."
Next year, he plans to continue urging the federal Bureau of Prisons to put a new maximum security prison in Leavenworth, pushing his idea for an optional flat tax rate and pursuing a "three-state/one-country" solution for Iraq to be divided into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni regions.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Republican from suburban Wichita, helped secure $51 million for projects that add personnel to McConnell Air Force Base and invest in research at Wichita State University and area companies. One of his top priorities for next year, he said, is to find ways to create more local jobs and remove "competitiveness barriers that prevent small businesses from creating high-paying, high-quality jobs in America."
Republican Rep. Jerry Moran, of western Kansas, called 2007 a "landmark year" for military veterans who stand to benefit from a record increase in spending for veterans health care. Among Moran's priorities for 2008 are passing the new farm bill, addressing rising health care costs and improving the quality of education by repealing or revamping the No Child Left Behind law.
Boyda is expected to face a tough re-election bid. Republicans targeted her as a vulnerable freshman after she narrowly won her conservative district over incumbent GOP Rep. Jim Ryun. The National Republican Congressional Committee plans to rally behind the winner of the Republican primary -- either Ryun or state treasurer Lynn Jenkins.
Boyda spent 2007 working to distance herself from more liberal-leaning party leaders, yet it was Democratic leaders who helped her sponsor or co-sponsor more than $190 million worth of earmarks, or pet projects, for her district in the massive spending bill Congress approved before leaving for the Christmas recess. That included millions in improvements for Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth.
Next year, Boyda plans to focus on problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement and the role of trade in the U.S. economy.
