Same Issues, New Year

I always look forward to reconnecting at Christmas with family and friends in one of America's most beautiful places – the Nebraska panhandle. Although 2021 has ended, many of the same challenges Democrats failed to address last year as they pursued their extreme economic and social agendas await when the House reconvenes next week.

We enter 2022 with record inflation and rampant spending continuing. In December I opposed the debt ceiling increase and short-term government funding bills brought to the floor by Speaker Pelosi. The $2.5 trillion debt ceiling increase contained no budget reforms and gives Democrats a blank check to implement the rest of President Biden's failed economic agenda through this year. Government funding expires again on February 18, and another agreement is needed by then to keep the federal government open. So far, Democrats continue their efforts to revoke the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortions, preventing negotiators from moving on to more substantive discussions about spending levels. I continue to oppose higher spending levels and efforts to remove the Hyde Amendment.

While labor shortages and supply chain issues continue, Senate Democrats will likely continue work on President Biden's so-called Build Back Better Act, which I opposed in the House before Thanksgiving. One of the major pieces of this package is a one-year extension of the expanded, refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) signed into law last summer by President Biden. I supported doubling the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child as part of comprehensive tax reform in 2017 because it can be a great tool for helping hardworking families meet their basic needs. However, I strongly opposed converting the CTC to a fully refundable monthly payment last year. Not only is this the worst possible time to pay Americans who won't return to work, I worry many hardworking families will be disappointed by smaller tax refunds or owe money on their tax returns this spring because they received unsolicited checks from the federal government. The Democrat focus on BBB and the CTC has also prevented us from addressing more pressing tax issues, like the expiration of a business tax provision known as EBITDA, which ensures capital-intensive industries like manufacturing can fully deduct the costs of investments needed to create more production capacity and jobs.

We also left several great economic opportunities on the table last year, and I hope the Biden administration prioritizes trade in 2022. Not only have they abandoned trade negotiations initiated by the Trump administration, such as United Kingdom and Kenya, but several important trade laws have been allowed to expire because Democrats are attempting to leverage them to impose new labor and environmental requirements on our trading partners. One of these provisions, the Generalized System of Preferences, provides trade opportunity for developing countries and allows the U.S. to address unfair trade by revoking those preferences. Another, the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, allows U.S. manufacturers to import inputs not available domestically duty free in order to support domestic manufacturing. While we should regularly review these programs to ensure they are meeting their intended purposes, both are important enough that they should not be held hostage to outside issues.

After two challenging years, 2022 has the potential to be a year of promise for families across our state and country. To ensure that happens, Congress must get back to the basics of governing and ensure our laws incentivize and reward hard work. We must stop printing money, give small businesses and ag producers certainty, and recognize why government intervention has failed instead of repeating past mistakes. I will return to D.C. next week with those goals, and I hope you will share with me how you think I can fulfill them.