January 3, 2022

Sen. Marshall Fights to Defend Kansas Way of Life in First Year

(Washington, D.C., January 3, 2021) – Exactly one year ago today, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. was sworn in to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate. He’s been hard at work fighting to defend the Kansas way of life and protect the values Kansans hold so dear. From having numerous pieces of legislation signed into law to fighting to halt Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandates, Senator Marshall accomplished a great deal in his first year in office.

“As I traveled our great state this past year, I heard loud and clear that I was sent to D.C. to fight for the people of Kansas, for all Americans, but more than anyone else, I was sent here to fight for our children and grandchildren. It’s a great honor, and a greater responsibility as this Senate seat belongs to the people of Kansas,” said Senator Marshall. “While we face many challenges ahead as a nation, and given the failed policies of this Administration, I will never stop fighting for our Kansas way of life.”

You may click HERE or on the image below to watch a highlight video of Senator Marshall’s first year.

Being Responsive and Solving Issues Kansans have with the Federal Government:

Senator Marshall hosted 71 public town hall meetings as well as six telephone town hall meetings that reached over 800,000 Kansans.

Senator Marshall opened offices in Garden City, Wichita, Pittsburg, Salina, Topeka, and Overland Park to better serve all Kansans. Additionally, the Senator communicated with Kansans more than 265,000 times through the office’s robust mail program.

Senator Marshall’s office submitted dozens of letters in support of grant applications for a variety of funding opportunities including for Kansas small businesses, economic development, and COVID recovery. The Senator also helped Kansans from 410 different Kansas zip codes interact with nearly 40 federal agencies on almost 3,000 cases dealing with issues with the federal government. The Senator’s office has a 95% favorability rating in his efforts to get Kansans the help they need. You may click HERE or on the image below to see how Senator Marshall’s office helped get two Kansans the money they were owed from the IRS.

Following President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of U.S. Military troops from Afghanistan, Senator Marshall launched an email address for Kansans seeking evacuation assistance from the region. The Senator’s efforts helped evacuate dozens of Americans and SIV applicants. You may click HERE or on the image below to see one of those success stories.

Fighting to Put a Stop to Joe Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandates:

While Senator Marshall supports the vaccine, he has been leading the fight in the U.S. Senate to put a stop to Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In fact, Senator Marshall’s legislation to prevent servicemembers from receiving a dishonorable discharge for choosing to not get the COVID vaccine was signed into law by President Joe Biden as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). You may click HERE or on the image below to watch a highlight video of Senator Marshall’s fight against these dishonorable discharges.

Senator Marshall’s additional efforts to put a stop to the mandates include:

Introduced legislation to overturn the mandate on private employees and healthcare workers before it goes into effect.
Introduced an amendment to the government spending package to prohibit funding for implementing or enforcing the Biden Administration’s COVID vaccine mandate on private companies – all 50 Senate Republicans supported Senator Marshall’s amendment.
Introduced the Prevent Unconstitutional Vaccine Mandates for Interstate Commerce Act to protect the privacy of Americans’ personal health information and prohibit federal agencies from requiring proof of vaccination or the use of a vaccine passport for such activities.
Introduced the Keeping Our COVID-19 Heroes Employed Act to save essential workers from being fired due to President Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandate.
Released a report highlighting the economic cost of vaccine mandates in Kansas showing that 463,445 Kansas workers (31% of the total Kansas labor force) are at risk of losing their jobs if they do not comply with Biden’s authoritarian mandate.
Met with dozens of union workers in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita to discuss the mandate’s effects on their livelihoods. Following the meetings, Senator Marshall requested Ag, HELP, Small Business, and Energy committee hearings that would bring rank-and-file union workers from Kansas to Capitol Hill who are at risk of losing their jobs over the mandate. You may click HERE or on the image below to watch a wrap up video of the Senator’s meetings with union workers.

Fighting for Better and Affordable Healthcare for Kansans:

Senate Republican Leader McConnell named Senator Marshall to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Earlier this year, President Biden signed into law Senator Marshall’s Ensuring Innovation Act, which lowers prescription drug prices. This was the 7^th bill President Biden signed into law, and Senator Marshall was the first freshman Republican to have a bill signed into law.

Senator Marshall helped introduce and pass in the Senate HELP Committee, the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act to improve maternal and infant health. He also introduced the Protect Act, legislation to protect Kansans with pre-existing conditions and ensure they will never be denied health care coverage or be charged more because of a pre-existing condition. And, introduced the Lower Costs, More Cures Act to lower prescription drug prices, bring greater transparency to the prescription drug industry, and encourage American ingenuity in the development of new treatments and cures. Finally, he introduced the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, bipartisan legislation that would improve timely access to quality care for seniors under Medicare Advantage.

Senator Marshall fought to get COVID-19 booster shots into the arms of senior citizens and vulnerable people – he even joined forces with a bipartisan group of doctors in Congress on a radio PSA to encourage Americans to get their boosters. Earlier in the year, Senator Marshall led a group of Republican doctors and other health care providers in Congress to launch a PSA to boost COVID-19 vaccine participation. He also launched a PSA encouraging patients to get a flu shot.

Fighting to Lower Kansas Energy Prices:

Senate Republican Leader McConnell named Senator Marshall to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Since then, he has been leading the effort to get to the bottom of the spike in natural gas and propane prices that impacted communities and residents across Kansas last winter. The Senator continues to push for answers on how situations like these can be avoided in the future. In fact, he called for and was successful in seeking a Senate hearing to examine the reliability and resiliency of the electric grid in extreme weather events like the arctic blast.

Senator Marshall introduced the Defending Keystone Jobs Act and other legislation to continue construction of the pipeline and protect important American jobs. He also introduced the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act to prohibit the Biden Administration from blocking energy or mineral leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters without Congressional approval.

Fighting to get Economy Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels:

Senate Republican Leader McConnell named Senator Marshall to the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. The Senator introduced the Get Americans Back to Work Act to repeal the increase in unemployment benefits brought on by President Biden and the Democrats, which were paying people to stay at home unemployed instead of getting back to work. He fought against President Biden and the Democrats’ out-of-control spending that has led to rampant inflation hitting Kansans and all Americans, as well as introduced an amendment to the Senate Rules to require all bills passed by Senate committees include inflationary impact statements so Americans can see the true impacts of government spending.

Fighting For Kansas Farmers and Ranchers:

Senate Republican Leader McConnell named Senator Marshall to the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Shortly thereafter, he received the ‘Friend of Farm Bureau Award’ from the Kansas Farm Bureau for his work on behalf of Kansas farmers, ranchers, and producers.

The Senator led an effort on a Senate resolution that expresses the need for the U.S. Senate to stand with farmers and businesses by upholding the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection rule, which replaced the Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. He also introduced the Death Tax Repeal Act to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, finally ending this purely punitive tax that has the potential to hit family-run farms, ranches, and businesses as the result of the owner’s death. Senator Marshall successfully fought against the Biden Administration’s directive to conserve at least 30% of our private lands and waters by 2030 commonly known as 30 by 30.

He introduced legislation to ensure all farmers and ranchers categorized as a partnership – many of which are small family partnerships – are able to use gross income when applying for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds. The Senate passed the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which Senator Marshall helped author that breaks down barriers for farmers interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices. He continues to work on numerous pieces of legislation to deliver needed flexibility for livestock and ag haulers, increase market access for E15 and other higher-ethanol fuel blends year-round, ensure a level playing field for our nation’s cattlemen and to return to fair prices for both cattlemen and consumers, and prohibit radical state and local governments from interfering with the production or manufacturing of agricultural products in other states.

Fighting for Kansas Values:

Senator Marshall joined the Senate Pro-life Caucus, and received an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony National List for his work in the 116th Congress on pro-life issues.

Additionally, Senator Marshall’s first bill as a U.S. Senator was the Protecting Life in Crisis Act that would prohibit any funds that are authorized or appropriated for the purposes of preventing, preparing for, or responding to the COVID–19 pandemic – domestically and internationally – from going toward abortions or abortion coverage. In total the Senator has cosponsored a total of 15pieces of legislation to continue his fight to protect unborn children and their mothers.

Senator Marshall introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, legislation to protect athletic opportunities for female athletes. The legislation was introduced just days after President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order forcing schools to allow student athletes to compete in sports based on their gender identity instead of their biological gender. He also introduced the Protecting Children from Experimentation Act, which would prohibit doctors from performing experimental gender reassignment treatments on children as well as the End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act to protect taxpayers’ conscience by prohibiting federal funding for gender reassignment surgeries and treatments. This bill provides exceptions for the treatment of patients with medically verifiable sex development disorders.

Senator Marshall and his GOP colleagues also successfully fought against the Democrats’ attempts to let the federal government take over our elections with H.R.1/S.1.

Fighting to Protect our Kansas Way of Life:

Senator Marshall successfully fought for the Office of Management and Budget to reconsider their plans to change Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area definitions from 50k to 100k. This change would have significantly impacted Manhattan, St. Joseph, MO/KS, and Lawrence as a Metropolitan Statistical Area and in turn disqualify the cities from receiving federal funding for programs that rely on these definitions for qualifications.

Senator Marshall was named 2020 Federal Legislator of the Year by Safari Club International, a leading organization dedicated to protecting hunting opportunities and promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. He introduced the Home Defense and Competitive Shooting (HDCS) Act to put an end to obsolete, prohibition-era regulations on short-barreled rifles (SBR) and the Firearms Safety Act to encourage Americans to engage in increased firearm safety practices by offering a tax credit following the completion of a firearms safety course or the purchase of a gun safe.

The Senator also called for an investigation into the allegation that ESPN is encouraging and working to ensure the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Oklahoma in Norman move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) considering reports saying they recently acquired 100% of the television rights to all SEC games from CBS.

He cosponsored the Tax Gap Reform and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Enforcement Act and introduced the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act to stop the IRS from monitoring Americans’ bank account transactions.

Fighting to Secure Southern Border:

Senator Marshall toured along the Rio Grande River and received a briefing on the growing migrant crisis. This was his third trip to the southern border since becoming a member of Congress. He introduced an amendment to the NDAA to block President Biden’s plan to give $450,000 in taxpayer money to thousands of illegal immigrants. Additionally, his amendment to prohibit the transportation of migrants who have not received a negative COVID test passed the U.S. Senate.

Fighting to get to the Bottom of the Origins of COVID-19:

Having been the first member of Congress to sound the alarm on the House floor about the spread of COVID-19 and later serving on the frontlines as a volunteer treating patients in Wyandotte County and Seward County, Senator Marshall has been leading the effort in the U.S. Senate to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19.

The Senator introduced a resolution calling for a bipartisan Select Committee to investigate the origins of COVID-19. The Senate passed a bipartisan amendment offered by Senator Marshall and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) calling for a transparent investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak mandated by the World Health Assembly during its current session, which ends on Monday. Additionally, if China continues on its path of cover-up and obfuscation, the Marshall-Gillibrand Amendment demands a full, transparent investigation to include the U.S. and our allies and partners around the world. In fact, Senators Marshall and Gillibrand held the first joint bipartisan Senate briefing on the origins of COVID-19 bringing together healthcare, national security, medical, and academic experts.

Senators Marshall and Gillibrand joined forces with Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to introduce bipartisan legislation to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate COVID-19 origins and identify lessons learned regarding U.S. preparedness, response, and recovery to improve our ability to respond to future outbreaks. Senators Marshall and Gillibrand were on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the legislation.

Senator Marshall was the first U.S. Senator to demand answers from the DOD and HHS on possible COVID-19 infections of U.S. Army troops who participated in the 2019 World Military Games that took place in Wuhan, China from October 18-28, 2019.

Senator Marshall released a multi-step path forward on getting to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19 and holding China accountable for its actions surrounding the earliest days of the outbreak. Since then, he has introduced the Chinese Communist Party Accountability Act to place sanctions on the top two Chinese health officials with early ties to the COVID-19 outbreak who obfuscated actionable information; the Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act to place a moratorium on all federal research grants to universities and other organizations conducting gain-of-function research and risky research on potential pandemic pathogens; and the National BioSecurity Improvement Act to ensure federally-funded research involving potentially dangerous pathogens does not compromise national security. You may click HERE or on the image below to read the Senator’s multi-step path forward.