By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas First District Congressman Republican Tracey Mann is excited about the committees he's assigned to for this Congress.
"I'll be serving on the House Ag Committee as well as the Veterans Affairs Committee," Mann said. "I am ecstatic with both of those selections. Specific to agriculture, there's a history of the member of Congress from this seat, from our district having a seat on that committee, but it was competitive this year. There were about 20 freshmen vying for 5 or 6 spots."
The revised substantial completion of construction date for the NBAF, which is the point at which the USDA will have full access to the facility and is responsible for its operation, has been moved to October of 2021.
"I tell people the CDC down in Atlanta is to humans what NBAF is to animals," Mann said. "As we have seen diseases that impact humans, like bird flu, like swine flu, coronavirus, a lot of these diseases originate in animals and then mutate and impact humans."
Mann's broad policy goals are connected with helping the country recover both financially and personally from COVID-19.
"Getting Americans back to work, that's less of an issue in Kansas, but still a factor. That's huge. Also, making sure kids around the country are back in school and we've got to make sure that everybody that wants to be vaccinated is, as quickly as possible."
Mann lives in Salina when he's not serving in Washington. He's back in Kansas this week.