Columns
While traveling in the Third District in recent weeks, I have been encouraged by the expertise and creativity our communities possess and sobered by the challenges we face. We have much to be thankful for, but there is also no shortage to the adversity we must overcome.
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.
As most Americans returned to normal, bureaucrats at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) refused to fully reopen the agency, despite heading into tax season with a backlog of more than 20 million tax returns. While this backlog has grown, calls to the IRS have also gone unanswered, leaving families and small businesses to navigate a complicated maze of red tape resulting from Democrats' massive stimulus package on their own. Americans deserve to have their tax filings processed in a timely manner. Instead, the IRS is mired in delays.
One of the most rewarding aspects of serving Nebraska's Third Congressional District is the opportunities I get to engage with young people interested in government service. This spring, I've welcomed students from Bayard, Oakland-Craig, Boone Central, Summerland, and Doniphan-Trumbull schools, as well as Peru State College, to our nation's capital. Fielding students' questions is always a pleasure, and I deeply appreciate their thoughtful feedback and ideas about the issues we are working on in the U.S. House of Representatives.
There is a crisis at our southern border, and President Biden is only making it worse. At the end of March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced it was on track to surpass one million encounters with immigrants illegally crossing our borders over the last six months. CBP data show there were 164,973 migrant encounters at our southern border in February, up 7 percent from January and 63 percent from February of last year. These staggering numbers do not include the number of illegal migrants who eluded border agents.
According to a new Bloomberg Economics analysis, the average American family will spend an additional $5,200 this year because of our record-high inflation rate. Polling data show that a majority of Americans are seriously concerned about inflation, a sign Americans already burdened with higher costs at the grocery store and gas pump are bracing for additional financial pressures.
National Agriculture Week provides a great opportunity to recognize the strength and resiliency of Nebraska's agriculture producers. The Third District is the nation's leading congressional district in both total number of farms and market value of products sold. Nebraskans' dedication and ingenuity are second to none; however, all Americans are currently facing historic inflation. Rising costs, especially when it comes to fertilizer and fuel, are hitting the agriculture community particularly hard.
As war rages on the doorsteps of our NATO allies, the United States is weighing the best path forward to provide additional support to Ukraine and hold Vladimir Putin accountable. The destruction and bloodshed in Ukraine are tragic, and I was moved by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's joint address to Congress earlier this week. I was pleased when the House took action on a bill for which I've been advocating to revoke Russia's trade privileges, a vote which President Biden and Democrats in Congress needlessly delayed.
As Western nations continue to respond to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, there's no question increasing trade partnerships with countries who share our values would benefit the United States and the world. Realizing the administration seems content to sit back and let others lead on trade, I recently led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to the United Kingdom (UK) to discuss trade opportunities and challenges.
This week President Biden delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. While I went into the evening open to hearing President Biden propose real solutions to urgent challenges like soaring energy and food prices, waves of illegal crossings at our southern border, and workforce shortages, I was disappointed by how readily he rehashed many of the failed policies of his first year in office which have put us in this position. Inflation is at a 40-year high, we have a serious supply chain crisis, and Russia has invaded Ukraine.