First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp has a genius for irritating those who disagree with him. Latest on his hit list has been House Speaker John Boehner. Huelskamp has let Boehner know that he thinks the speaker is far too moderate on tax cuts — and does so in personal terms that peeve Mr. Boehner.
As a consequence the word is out in Topeka that funding for a federal bioterrorism lab in Manhattan is in jeopardy. President Barack Obama’s current budget already cuts initial funding for the lab from $50 million to $10 million. If the administration discovers the Republican speaker also opposes the project it could die altogether or be postponed repeatedly.
That would be a catastrophe, not just for Manhattan, but for the entire state of Kansas.
According to the Associated Press, Kansas Senate President Steve Morris of Hugoton told the Wichita Pachyderm Club Friday, “Not to get into too many details, there’s a pretty good-sized conflict between the U.S. Speaker of the House and our congressman from the First District.
“He’s told people that if Manhattan and Riley County stay in the First District, funding could be a problem for the NBAF. That’s out there, so we’re dealing with that.”
At the Kansas Press Association convention in Topeka Friday, a lobbyist repeated the warning about Rep. Huels-kamp’s dire influence on the critical project.
THE IMPORTANCE of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility to the long term stability and growth of the Kansas economy would be difficult to exaggerate. Every member of the Kansas congressional delegation should be working to assure it is built as planned and that construction and staffing happen sooner rather than later.
NBAF will bring hundreds of well-paid professionals to Manhattan. Companion laboratories will spring up to take advantage of the research NBAF will produce. Private enterprises will move in to capitalize on that research and translate the new knowledge into profit-making medicines and services.
The medical services corridor that runs from Manhattan to Kansas City will thrive.
The science done on counter-acting threats to agricultural products, both plants and animals, will be applied worldwide because the U.S. has always been a leader in the field and will solidify its leadership with NBAF.
First District Republicans should sit Rep. Huelskamp down and let him know just how much rests with this once-in-a-century opportunity for the Sunflower state.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
