Plane Talk - 10/15/07

I usually write “Plane Talk” on my Monday afternoon flights from Kansas to D.C. But this past weekend, my daughter visited D.C. and we saw the sights together! We had perfect weather to walk and walk and walk. I fly home to Kansas virtually every weekend, so I hadn't had the chance to see all D.C. has to offer. If you haven't been recently or ever, try your best to get here. Our capital city is a symbol of freedom throughout the world, and it still stirs my soul when I see it, especially at night.

During my daughter’s visit, we dropped by the National Mall, where a team of KU and K-State students were competing against 19 other groups in the U.S. Department of Energy’s third Solar Decathalon. Each team had designed and built their own solar-powered house, complete with hot water heaters, climate control, refrigerators, laundry machines, and even an electric car. This week, all twenty homes are set up on the National Mall, where they will be judged on both their technical and aesthetic merits.

Visiting the “solar village” with my daughter was like taking a step into her future. Perhaps, by the time she has children of her own, some of the energy-saving ideas we saw on the National Mall will be commonplace – and perhaps her grandchildren will live in a house not too different from the one KU and K-State imagined.

We’re so proud of our Kansas students for helping to create America’s energy future, and I was pleased to have the chance to show the students around the Capitol on Monday evening and hear more about their work. If you'd like to learn more, visit their website at http://solarhouse.capd.ksu.edu/.

With warm regards,

Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress


Casework Corner - Town Hall on No Child Left Behind

As a staff member in Rep. Boyda’s Washington D.C. office, it’s always helpful to hear directly from Kansans about legislation. Most of the time, I talk to people in Kansas over the phone or by e-mail, but earlier this week I had the chance to accompany Rep. Boyda to a town hall on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) held in my hometown of Topeka and at my alma mater, Topeka High School (THS).

We got to hear directly from teachers and school administrators about some of the challenges they face in implementing NCLB and what changes in the law they’d like to see when it’s reauthorized. We hear a lot about the low salaries that teachers receive, but no one brought that up. Instead, we heard an honest and selfless concern for students’ intellectual and social development.

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Letter of the Week - Reforming the Federal Aviation Administration

The Second District of Kansas depends on general aviation. Small airfields dot the landscape throughout eastern Kansas and provide facilities for private pilots traveling through Kansas. Because of the large impact that general aviation has on Kansas, I am very pleased that the House of Representatives recently passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2881). This bill is good for Kansans, especially for private pilots and commercial travelers.

One of the largest changes in the bill is the historic increase in funding in capital programs used by the FAA to modernize the Air Traffic Control System and to stabilize the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Both are crucial to reducing delays in commercial air travel that have become so common. The excise fees on general aviation proposed by the FAA were not included in the bill, which will keep private aircraft operators and owners flying.

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This Week in Congress - 10/8 to 10/14

On Monday, Breakthrough House in Topeka held their annual luncheon to recognize Mental Health Awareness Week, and I was honored to speak about the importance of mental health care.  My staff and I then visited Silver Lake Senior Citizen's Center in Silver Lake for a Congress on Your Corner, and later that day, about a hundred teachers came to Topeka High School to share their views on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

On Tuesday, I toured the Atchison Casting Corporation in Atchison, where their management and employees shared news about their work and their legislative priorities.  Later that day, I flew back to Washington, D.C., where I met with about two dozen Kansans in town for the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Convention.

On Wednesday, I joined a breakfast for the AUSA, where Gen. Scott Wallace, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Commander was the guest speaker. Later in the day, I met with Major General Michael Symanski and attended an AUSA reception and dinner.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives recessed for the funeral of the late Representative Jo Ann Davis of Virginia.