Agriculture

Economic growth and opportunity in Nebraska’s Third District is powered by agricultural trade. While the United States makes up approximately 5 percent of the world’s population, America’s hardworking farmers and ranchers create enough surplus to export $200 billon in food, fuel, and fiber annually while utilizing fewer and fewer acres each year.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressmen Adrian Smith (R-NE), Jim Costa (D-CA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) announced the launch of the bipartisan Congressional Agricultural Trade Caucus to advance and promote policies vital to U.S. agriculture, including boosting agricultural exports, facilitating food and agriculture trade, and knocking down unnecessary trade barriers.

Investing in the growth of a child as a parent, teacher, or mentor, and then seeing the child flourish to their fullest potential is both rewarding and inspiring. In schools and homes across the Third District, Nebraskans work tirelessly to create opportunities for students to learn and thrive. As a lawmaker, my mission is to support this work by maximizing the opportunities available to each and every student.

In life and legislative work, a new year brings new opportunities and new undertakings. As we enter 2024 and the second session of the 118th United States Congress, there is much work to do, and I’m optimistic we can achieve results for the American people. Commonsense policies promoting economic growth and productivity in our communities can benefit our country as a whole. With no shortage of obstacles to overcome to curb wasteful spending, deliver tax relief, and manage federal programs, it is time to get to work for the American people.

This week, House Republicans took action to push back on proposals by President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively forcing consumers to drive only electric vehicles (EVs) by 2032. The EPA’s out-of-touch policies are unworkable for the Third District because of our winter weather and expansive driving distances. Furthermore, China, which holds 78 percent of the world’s EV battery cell manufacturing capacity, recently implemented export controls on raw EV battery materials.

As households across our nation gather to celebrate our many blessings and feast on the fruits of our hardworking farmers and ranchers, I am struck by the debt of thanks we owe as Americans. From the remarkable series of events that brought Massachusetts natives and Mayflower passengers to the same table more than four centuries ago, to the sovereign grace which has unified generations of Americans to face and overcome each of their harrowing challenges, Thanksgiving is about coming together.