[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 788-789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO STAFFORD, KANSAS

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, in my home State of Kansas, there are 
hundreds of small communities that line the highways and county roads 
that stretch across the prairie part of the country. In many of these 
towns, the populations are shrinking, but they are still called home by 
thousands of Kansans.
  I grew up in one of those small communities out in western Kansas, a 
place where folks know their neighbors and they try to take care of 
them. Much of what I know about people, about human nature, is what I 
learned by growing up in a small town where we all knew each other. I 
worked at the local hardware store, swimming pool, the drugstore, and I 
had a paper route and got to meet almost everybody in my hometown.
  In these small communities across America, the people work hard, they 
come together to find commonsense solutions, and they solve problems. 
They try to make a difference in the lives of their families and the 
community. They also strive to provide a better future for their kids 
so that every child has the opportunity to grow up, pursue the American 
dream, and reach their goals.
  For rural communities to survive and prosper, citizens have to work 
together to create their own opportunities for success. What happens 
here in Washington, DC, has a huge consequence on the future of rural 
communities in my State. The reality is that those communities that are 
going to have a bright future are those that decide on their own to 
work together within that community to make certain that is the case.
  An example of a community that rallied together in this way to make 
good things happen and to make the community better for the future is 
the community of Stafford, population 1,042. I would like to recognize 
the efforts by this community, the Stafford residents, with the 
Building Better Communities Award. They made the effort to preserve 
their town for another generation.
  Rural communities across our State have been hit hard by the economic 
downturn over the last few years. Many towns have encountered the 
closing of businesses, Main Street looks a lot less appealing, there is 
a shortage of health care services, and a younger generation is leaving 
home in search for employment. In light of these challenges, the 
community leaders of Stafford are taking steps to cure that town's 
future.
  We have a chain of retail stores across our State called Duckwalls. 
Two years ago they announced that they were closing 20 of their stores 
across Kansas, and the residents of Stafford were left to drive more 
than 20 miles to do their routine shopping. What happens in a community 
like Stafford? The community leaders gathered and they raised the funds 
to open and operate a new store, a general store on Main Street called 
Stafford Mercantile.
  One of the things that makes this shop unique is it is owned by the 
community and it features a lot of Stafford's history, including a 1928 
soda fountain and the marble-topped counter. In fact, one local 
resident, Judy Mayes, brought her mother to that store to have ice 
cream from the same fountain used at their wedding reception in 1934. 
The new shop brings back fond memories of the past but also now brings 
a future for younger folks in Stafford to enjoy a store, a mercantile, 
and a soda fountain. The mercantile has made it possible, once again, 
for residents to see what can happen when they work together and now 
they can shop at home.
  Another challenge Stafford faced was the likelihood its local 
hospital would have to close its doors, after more than 50 years of 
serving that community, due to the pressures of declining population, 
Medicare reimbursement rates, and the difficult financial circumstances 
most hospitals across Kansas now face. Access to health care services 
and hospitals is vital to the survival of a community. If you can't 
access health care in communities across my State, it is one more 
circumstance that creates the likelihood senior citizens will 
reluctantly move away to someplace where there is a doctor and a 
hospital, and young families will not take the risk of raising their 
families without access to that health care. But with more than $\1/2\ 
million in debt, it seemed like, other than closing the hospital, there 
was no option for Stafford. But rather than throwing in the towel and 
giving up, the hospital got new leadership, they sought help from the 
folks in the county, and they worked hard to make ends meet so the 
hospital doors could remain open and continue that long tradition of 
serving the residents of Stafford County.
  Many rural communities often struggle to add younger generations of 
residents to their workforce, given the lack of job opportunities. The 
superintendent of the local school district, Mary Jo Taylor, recognized 
this challenge in her community, and she decided to do something about 
it. With the support of the leadership of the community, the citizens, 
the business community of the town, and the support of local teacher 
Natalie Clark, the Stafford Entrepreneurship and Economic Development 
Center was created at Stafford High School in 2003.
  The goal of this center is to equip high school sophomores, juniors, 
and seniors with the training needed to become successful 
entrepreneurs. Who better to start a business in their hometown than a 
young person who grew up there and who is now educated and trained and 
has a desire for entrepreneurship? More likely that person than 
probably anyone else. By learning what it takes to develop and manage a 
small business, young people gain those valuable skills that open doors 
for a wide range of future employment opportunities and, most 
important, the opportunity to create a business at home.
  As part of that learning experience, local store owners hire those 
students and give them hands-on experience in managing their own 
business. Those skills are important as those students leave high 
school and will help enable them to create those jobs the community of 
Stafford so desperately needs.
  These are only a few examples of how the community of Stafford worked 
together to revitalize their community

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and pave the way for its future. Carolyn Dunn, the Stafford County 
Economic Development Director, summed it up this way when she said: 
``Stafford is proving that when communities look within themselves for 
growth, they do have the capability to forge a stronger, more positive 
future.''
  The community of Stafford is a success story. It is a role model. It 
demonstrates how teamwork and creative thinking and how caring about 
the future of your community can make a positive difference for that 
community and for all of rural America. I am proud to recognize the 
efforts of Stafford with what we have called the Building Better 
Communities Award. Today, in the Senate, I offer my congratulations and 
gratitude for the kind of leadership and effort among all residents of 
the community to see that Stafford is a good place to live today and, 
perhaps even more important, a great place to live tomorrow.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to use oversized 
charts on the floor today because, basically, the information I have 
will not fit on a standard size chart and still be readable.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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