Senator Marshall Joins KWCH In Studio To Discuss Hosting Kansas Gold Star Families in D.C. This Memorial Day

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined KWCH live in studio to discuss the upcoming Memorial Day holiday where he is hosting Kansas Gold Star families in Washington, D.C. for the First Division Monument expansion rededication ceremony. 

Additionally, Senator Marshall discussed the recent Farm Bill Framework that was released by Senate Democrats, as well as the recent crime roundtables he has hosted in the state with Kansas law enforcement officers and local officials across the state to better understand the influx of fentanyl, human trafficking, and other crime trends they are seeing in their communities.

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.

Highlights from Senator Marshall’s interview include:

“Gold Star families are families who lost a loved one, who made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country keeping us all free, and your listeners know that Fort Riley is the home of the Big Red One, the First Infantry Division. Just outside the White House between the White House and the Washington Monument is the Big Red One First Infantry Division monument.”

“It has the names of over 12,000 soldiers from the First Infantry Division who made the ultimate sacrifice. So this Sunday, Memorial weekend, we’re adding 631 names. Unfortunately, 631 Gold Star family members names, their loved one who made the ultimate sacrifice since 1995. It literally takes an act of Congress to add these names. So we have, I think, 12 Gold Star families coming to honor their loved ones and it’s a good day for us to do that Memorial Weekend, Sunday.”

On the Farm Bill framework release and need to put Farm back in the Farm Bill:

“You know that hail damage last night, the winds, I’m sure damaged a large number of crops. And what crop insurance does is allow farmers to plant next year’s crop. They don’t make any money on it, but it at least allows them to plant next year’s crop.” 

“We’re trying to convince Senator Stabenow that crop insurance is indeed important. We need to fund that, we’ve doubled up the funding for the nutrition programs, with inflation impacting farmers. But yet commodity prices are down, so we need to up the crop insurance a little bit.” 

“I gotta tell you, I think we’ll have a better Farm Bill if Republicans have a Senate majority now that you’ve pressed the issue here, so I’m not sure we’ll get it done this year. We’re pretty far apart. Again, we’ve doubled the funding for the nutrition programs from $60 to $120 billion. And all we’re asking is only $400 million of supplemental for the crop insurance piece of that. So we’re pretty far apart in the Senate. We’ll see if Senator Stabenow and the Democrats are serious about putting the ‘farm’ back in the Farm Bill.”

“It’s a five year program. We’ve got to get it right. I’m not going to do a bad Farm Bill. It’s going to last farmers for five years and as well as the nutrition programs, there’s good conservation projects in this as well, and good rural economic development programs.”