Congresswomen Lynn Jenkins

Spending Time in Kansas
After spending time with my family over the weekend to celebrate Easter, on Monday, I returned to the roads of Eastern Kansas to head to Wilson County to visit with farmers and ranchers. My first stop of the day was at Joe and Dana Newland’s farm in Neodesha. Joe and Dana showed me around their operation, and we had a great discussion about the importance of using antibiotics in animal production. While some in Washington are attempting to ban all antibiotic use in animals, I am concerned their attempts are not based in sound science. I will work to educate my colleagues about the how critical judicious use of antibiotics is in animal agriculture today.

My next stop was at Ken and Kathy Claiborne’s farm in Fredonia. Ken and Kathy were extremely hospitable and even gave me a tour of their farm from the seat of their tractor as they prepare for planting season to begin in a couple of weeks. Kansas farmers and ranchers are great stewards of our land and resources as they continue to grow food to feed you and me and folks around the world, and they are constantly developing ways to grow more on less ground. By 2050, the world population will reach 9 billion, and the great work of Kansas farmers and ranchers will be critical in feeding the ever growing population. Although I grew up on our family farm in Jackson County, production agriculture continues to change and evolve to stay competitive, so it is critical that our farmers and ranchers continue to educate me so I can represent their interests in Washington. Before I headed home for the day, I stopped by Cobalt Boats in Neodesha and checked out their impressive operation.

Tuesday morning, I headed to Leavenworth where my first meeting of the day was with Steve and Greg Kaaz with Kaaz construction and Lexeco. Next, I headed Fort Leavenworth where met Lt. Gen. Caslen and I learned about how electronic warfare and cyber warfare are helping our forces complete their missions. I am a member of the Electronic Warfare Working Group in the House of Representatives so I can continue supporting the mission of the men and women at Fort Leavenworth and all of our armed forces members. Tuesday, I also visited ARAMARK Uniform Services in Lansing. They showed me around their facility and explained to me about their business of manufacturing work uniforms for more than 400,000 customer accounts across the nation.

I headed back to Southeast Kansas Wednesday morning. First, I stopped by the Girard Medical Center. Hospital CEO Kenny Boyd took me on the tour of medical center to show me the progress being made on their expansion that will nearly double the size of the medical center. It is so important that our rural communities have access to high quality health care, and the folks in Girard should be proud of this new facility. Later Wednesday, I headed to West Mineral to tour Mid-America Pipe Fabricating and Supply Company. John Parsons showed me around the company that has more than 110 employees here in Kansas working to build high-quality piping for both local projects as well as projects around the nation.

Yesterday, it was great to spend time in my office in Topeka catching up on important business and meeting with folks from the Topeka community. Debbie Holyrood with the Alzheimer’s Association stopped by Thursday morning. I had a meeting with Chuck Banks about economic development projects in Kansas. Sue Jirkovsky-Landers with the Cancer Action Network and I had a great meeting. The aviation industry is so important to our state, and it was wonderful to visit with James Bolden, Eric Snell and Evelyn Reid about that industry. Thursday afternoon I headed to Osage City to meet with John Samples at KanBuild to talk about his business building modular and prefabricated homes.

Thursday evening, I was honored to attend the grand opening of the Health Care Access Clinic in Lawrence. The clinic provides high quality health care to folks in Douglas County who cannot afford health insurance. They have not incurred any debt for their new clinic, and the clinic is a great example of individuals investing and giving back to the community as many of the health care services are provided by doctors and health care professionals volunteering their service.

This morning I spent some time visiting a Topeka business that has not only made it through these challenging times, but they’ve continued growing. The folks at Frito-Lay gave me a great tour of the plant. After the tour, I was honored to attend a ceremony recognizing Frito-Lay as the state’s first LEED Existing Building (EB) GOLD Certification. The company has invested in sustainable practices and has found ways to cut costs while also preserve natural resources like water and energy. I was honored to participate in this event recognizing all of the hard work the folks at Frito-Lay do in Kansas.

It has been wonderful spending the past couple of weeks in Kansas during this congressional work period. It is always great to meet hard-working Kansans and to learn about the great work they do. I will continue traveling throughout the district and meeting with Kansans at my district offices when I am home, and I hope you will always contact my Topeka office at (785) 234-5966 or my Pittsburg office at (620) 231-5966 if there is something you would like me to attend.


Above left: Kathy Claiborne and I discuss the challenges facing her family's farm in Wilson County.

Above middle: Kenny Boyd shows me the renovation at Girard Medical Center.

Above right: John Parsons gave me a tour of Mid America Pipe Fabricating and Supply Company.

Hosting a Teletown Hall Meeting with Congressman Paul Ryan
I will return to Washington next week, but I will continue making constituent services and communications my top priority. I will be hosting a teletown hall next Wednesday, April 14. We are planning to call around 5:10 CDT unless the voting schedule conflicts with that time. I am honored to have a special guest joining me on this call next week. Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin who is the ranking member on the House Budget Committee will be joining me to talk about our nation’s fiscal situation and how legislation that has passed in Congress recently will affect our nation’s long-term fiscal stability. If you would like to participate in this call, I encourage you to click here to sign up.

I will continue holding these calls regularly. While I am in Washington, it is very important for me to know what is on your mind and for you to know what I am doing. Again, if you would like to sign up to participate in next week’s teletown hall with Congressman Paul Ryan and myself, I encourage you to click here.
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