Connecting Across the Third District

In recent weeks, I’ve been grateful to be able to speak with many Nebraskans across the Third District’s 80 counties. While I make the most of the time I have in Nebraska throughout the year, the month of August provides a unique opening in the congressional calendar to connect with the people of our state.

The Nebraska State Fair has been hosted in our district since relocating to Grand Island in 2011. This year, the fair welcomed over 150,000 guests during the opening weekend. I enjoyed connecting with attendees, talking with exhibitors, getting lunch at the Beef Pit, and viewing the many wonderful 4-H exhibits from every corner of the state.

The State Fair provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase our state and our incredible agricultural industry. As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin was in attendance for Senator Ricketts’ Federal Issues Forum, I spoke with Administrator Zeldin about Nebraska’s leadership in biofuels. As co-chair of the Biofuels Caucus, I am leading legislative efforts to eliminate unnecessary regulatory restrictions on ethanol blends up to 15 percent, and I am grateful Administrator Zeldin has taken action supportive of expanded access to E15.

I appreciated connecting with students as they return to school. I congratulated Congressional Art Competition award winners from Litchfield High School and met with students at Banner County High School. As I discussed with these students, feedback from constituents is critical to my work. This is why I met with constituents at mobile office events in Creighton and Bridgeport and the local Chambers of Commerce in Ord and Alliance.

Across Nebraska, we are fortunate to have many businesses which have served our communities for decades as well as new ventures bringing value and opportunity. I joined the celebration of Blue Ox’s 100-year anniversary in Pender, visited the site of a new sports complex in McCook, and enjoyed the newly opened Papa Moon restaurant in Scottsbluff.

During visits to Empirical Foods in South Sioux City, Bridgeport Ethanol in Bridgeport, and Millborn Seeds in Hemingford, I witnessed the impressive strides the agriculture industry is taking to increase efficiency and productivity. Earlier this month I was delighted to have Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in Nebraska for a visit to the University of Nebraska’s Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center. Our state leads in agriculture thanks to producers and researchers working each day to feed and fuel the world, and I was grateful for insights Secretary Rollins shared at a roundtable discussion with university and industry leaders.

I am only able to list a portion of my August travels in the Third District here. From the students returning to school, employees working on a manufacturing line, to the researchers in the University of Nebraska system, and all those in between, the people of Nebraska get up each day and work hard to support their communities and families. In addition to meaningful tax relief I secured in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, I will continue to advance sound policy which enables Nebraska businesses to invest for the future and build local economies.

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