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Congress in Your Inbox - Farm Bill Passes U.S. House

Plane Talk - Monday, July 30, Seat 3D

Plane Talk is a regular series of articles I write on my airplane rides back and forth between Kansas and Washington, D.C.

A good weekend in Kansas. Last night, Steve and I went to the Nemaha County Fair and saw how a beautiful farming community celebrates its agricultural roots.

Last week the House passed the 2007 Farm Bill. Like so many things, it was bittersweet. Since I arrived in Congress, there has been a beehive of activity around this bill. Every producer group has been in my office several times. It's been fascinating. Dare I say "fun?"

From the beginning, there were two main messages from producers. First, the current farm bill works pretty well, but it tends to pay farmers when they don't need it and not pay when they do. Second, they understood that fewer dollars were going to be available. According to the 2002 Farm Bill formula, higher crop prices mean fewer subsidy dollars.

The House Agriculture Committee worked incredibly hard (and, for the most part, in a bipartisan manner) to make the most of these precious funds. We reached a compromise on country of origin labeling, we found a great solution to fix the pay-when-it's-really-needed problem, and we made some difficult but needed decisions about farm credit and crop insurance. We also took first steps to curb the big money abuse of farm subsidies. And we finally closed one of the tax loopholes for off-shore corporations. It was about time!

In short, my goal was to help keep independent farmers and ranchers in business and to bring more young farmers into the business.

After Republicans and Democrats worked so hard together in committee, I was disappointed that the bill passed on the House floor along party lines. This legislation represented a good balance and will be good for Kansas.

With warm regards,

Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress

Casework Corner - Social Security Errors Can Lead to Underpayments

Casework Corner is a regular feature on my official website. Every week, members of my constituent services staff share ways that they can help Kansans deal with the federal government.

By Chad Manspeaker
District Representative

If you're anything like me, when you sort through your mail every day, you tear up a lot of paperwork without a second look. Credit card offers, junk advertisements, statements and reports from every government agency in the phone book… who has the time to read it all?

But sometimes, paying close attention to your mail pays off. Just ask Robert Ostrander of Topeka.

I first met Mr. Ostrander back in April, when he attended one of Rep. Boyda's Congress on Your Corner events. Unlike most of us, Mr. Ostrander reads his mail closely, and he'd noticed something odd in his benefits statement from the Social Security Administration. As a self-employed worker in 1977, he had properly filed his taxes and paid money into Social Security, but his statement reported that he'd earned zero income that year.

In the weeks following the Topeka Congress on Your Corner, I dug into Mr. Ostrander's case, and it turned out that he was absolutely correct. Not only was his Social Security statement wrong, but as a result of the omission of his 1977 income, his benefits had been miscalculated for years -- and he was eligible for a lump-sum payment of the accumulated benefits plus interest.

When the Social Security Administration refigured Mr. Ostrander's payments, he received a check for over $300.

In light of Mr. Ostrander's case, I'd encourage you to pay close attention to your mail, and if you notice that something has gone awry in a statement from a federal agency, please drop Rep. Boyda's office a line. We'll be happy to help you clear things up.

Letter of the Week - Improving Mental Health Care

Every week, 2,000 - 3,000 Second District residents write to me about the issues pending before Congress, and I work hard to respond to each person as promptly and thoughtfully as possible. On my website's "Letter of the Week" blog, I highlight constituent letters that are of general interest.

"I am deeply committed to ensuring the best possible care for individuals living with mental illness and to promoting their recovery, now and in the future. I would appreciate receiving information about your position and record regarding psychiatric advance directives. Please support funding for Social Security to add additional resources so that people applying for disability are not forced to wait years for a decision." -- Susan

Dear Susan,

Thank you for contacting me and sharing your views on mental health legislation. I always appreciate hearing from constituents on things I can do to help improve their lives in Kansas.

Mental health is among my top priorities. Congress is an incredibly busy place—every day there are dozens of hearings and scores of briefings available on a wide variety of subjects. In the first five months of this Congress, 2600 bills were introduced in the House of Representatives. I find the only way to sort through all this information is to keep focused on a few basic goals I had when I ran for Congress. One of those goals was improving mental health care for both children and adults.

Continue reading…

This Week in Congress - 7/23 to 7/29/2007


On Monday morning, staffers at the Jackson County Conservation District provided me with a brief and helpful overview of their "filter strip" program. Afterwards, I caught an afternoon flight to Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, Ronda and Mike Good visited from Altamont to discuss Haley's Act, a bill named after their daughter, Haley Hilderbrand, who was killed at an animal sanctuary in 2005 by a Siberian tiger. The legislation, which I introduced into the 110th Congress, would impose strict limitations on contact between large cats and the general public. Also visiting was Scott Weir, the Director of Therapeutics and Drug Discovery at KU.

On Wednesday, Donn Teske, the president of the Kansas Farmers Union, and Tom Buis, the president of National Farmers Union, dropped by to talk about the 2007 Farm bill. A delegation from the Kansas AARP also visited, as did Mike Ward, a constituent representing Southwest Airlines. I also joined the House Armed Services Committee for an intelligence hearing on the National Intelligence Estimate regarding Al-Qaeda.

On Thursday my office welcomed Christian Watkins of Chanute, a Junior Counselor with the Girls Nation Program. Also visiting were Paul Baumgardner of Louisburg and Thomas Gregory of Fort Scott, Kansas delegates to the American Legion Boys Nation program, and Savannah Abbott and Sarah Keffer of Topeka, attendees of the National Young Leaders Conference. The House Armed Services Committee also held a hearing into issues surrounding habeas corpus.

On Friday, the Armed Services Committee met to discuss America's current policy in Iraq, followed by a full committee markup of H.R. 3087, to require the administration to develop a strategy for the redeployment of United States Armed Forces in Iraq, and H.R. 3159, the “Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act of 2007." After the hearing, I returned home to Kansas on an evening flight.

Over the weekend, I attended events across the Second District in Douglas, Shawnee, and Nemaha counties, as well as a picnic for the United Auto Workers Local 31 in Kansas City.

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