Rural Development
More on Rural Development
For rural communities to survive and thrive, they need access to many of the same resources larger cities do—groceries, energy, broadband, and health care among them. To address the health care needs of rural seniors, Medicare has numerous special provisions, including a hospital category for Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)—facilities with 25 or fewer beds in communities distant from the next-closest hospital. This week I met with the Nebraska Hospital Association and the Critical Access Hospital Coalition to discuss how we can ensure Nebraskans have access to quality health care services.
The greatness of the United States stems not just from the political and religious freedom protected by our Constitution, but also the economic freedom it protects, ensuring individuals have the greatest possible opportunity to benefit from their hard work, ingenuity, and perseverance. Our state was built by homesteaders who were given the opportunity to build farms, businesses, and communities, earning the land they worked on through sweat equity. The hardworking people of Nebraska, and the communities where they work together, are what makes our state so great.
A few months ago, I relaunched my Regulation Rewind initiative to highlight problematic regulations coming from the new administration. The executive overreach, particularly when it fails to recognize ongoing conservation efforts of those closest to the land, is particularly disappointing. As the red tape flows from President Biden and his administration, I continue to oppose such regulations that could be detrimental to Nebraskans and the Third District.
A one-size-fits-all approach that puts Washington in charge of Americans' personal health and child care decisions is dangerous, especially in the wake of a global pandemic. Americans continue to struggle with unaffordable coverage, yet President Biden's budget does nothing to actually lower health care costs. This week, the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to ask important questions about the President's health care proposal.
Washington, D.C. – Representatives Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) today led more than 130 of their House of Representatives colleagues in sending a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy opposing the Biden Administration's proposal to repeal stepped-up basis from the tax code and require payment of capital gains taxes at death.
Read the full letter here.
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) today announced he has submitted the following member designated project requests to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House Committee on Appropriations.
Transporation and Infrastructure
Project Name: Heartland Expressway Phase III
Location: Minatare to Alliance, Nebraska
Project Sponsor: Nebraska Department of Transportation
Requested Funding: $10 million
Nebraska is a biofuels powerhouse - the second and third largest producer of ethanol and corn, respectively, in the country. With 25 active ethanol plants and a capacity of more than 2.5 billion gallons, the importance of biofuels to our state economy cannot be understated. Biodiesel production in Nebraska has seen exponential growth as well. Thanks to innovation and technological developments, biodiesel production has grown from 25 million gallons in 2004 to 2.9 billion gallons in 2019.
Washington, DC — Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) joined his fellow co-Chairs of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Cindy Axne (D-IA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), and Mark Pocan (D-WI), in introducing bipartisan legislation to ensure transparency and predictability to the Environmental Protection Agency's small refinery exemption (SRE) process.
Over the past two weeks, I have met via video conference with winners of the Third District Excellence in Innovation and Adaptation Recognition (EIAR), as well as the Third District's winner in this year's Congressional App Challenge. While I prefer meeting with Nebraskans in person, being able to recognize Nebraskans who innovated in the face of a pandemic while using technology seemed entirely appropriate.
While votes are still being counted and recounted, there are other things we must focus on as well – like getting our economy back on track. Through the use of tools like Zoom, I am able to meet with Nebraskans about our economy without skipping a beat.