Federal records indicate U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas has attended barely one-third of his Senate Agricultural Committee meetings during the past 15 years.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the three-term Republican from Dodge City was present for 71 of the 201 agriculture committee sessions from 2000 to 2014.
Roberts has emphasized endorsements from Kansas farm, crop and livestock organizations during his re-election bid against independent candidate Greg Orman.
Orman’s camp says the attendance figures show that Roberts is not representing the interests of Kansans. A Roberts spokesman called the senator a “tireless warrior for Kansas agriculture” and said the comment by Orman’s people is just an attempt to distract voters from looking into Orman’s “liberal, dishonest record.”
The ag committee is responsible for farm, nutrition and forestry issues.
