Columns
The backbone of our American republic is the guarantee of free and fair elections. Regardless of whether the candidate you supported won or lost last November, we should all be concerned when states deviate from election laws through judicial activism and executive overreach. After the Florida recount debacle in 2000, Congress came together to form a bipartisan consensus so states could fairly and accurately count every legally cast ballot. Unfortunately, this standard of bipartisan election reform was not considered in the House this week. I voted against H.R.
Defeating COVID-19 includes reconnecting unemployed Americans. Before the pandemic, America's economy was thriving. Workers at the bottom of the income ladder were seeing the largest wage gains in recent history. Two principle achievements from the last 25 years - the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the 1996 Welfare Reform Act - ensured Americans benefitted from hard work.
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.
Getting Americans back to work has been one of the primary challenges facing our nation since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly one year ago. While the employment situation varies widely from state to state, ensuring every unemployed American can reconnect with work must be a top priority. In Nebraska we are fortunate to have an unemployment rate of just 3%, making us one of 18 states that have an unemployment rate below 5%. Other states which have had more restrictive lockdowns are seeing much higher rates of unemployment.
Budget reconciliation is a longstanding tool intended to provide an expedited track for making changes to federal law relating to long-term budgeting. The primary purpose of reconciliation is to allow budget-related policies to pass through the Senate with a simple majority, without the need to reach a 60-vote majority to end debate. It has been used regularly under majorities in both parties to change tax policy, enact spending cuts, and to implement policies like welfare reform.
On January 20, we witnessed the transition of power from one President to the next – a hallmark of our democracy. I congratulate President Biden and Vice President Harris as we move forward as a country to tackle the challenges we have in front of us. I look forward to working with the Biden administration on important issues such as rural health care, increasing trade opportunities, and fixing our nation's infrastructure.
The events of last Wednesday were nothing short of horrific. I am appalled at what I saw and fully support the prosecution of every participant and planner of the uprising. Snap impeachment, however, without a complete investigation sets a dangerous precedent. The impeachment vote may feel politically expedient to Democrats, but this is not the correct way to address the violence nor will it bring our country together. Instead we should be moving forward to work on the key challenges our country faces.
The actions of violent protesters at the heart of our republic this week were appalling and despicable. I continue to condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms. Our republic remains strong because of our shared commitment to settling our disagreements democratically, at the ballot box and through the deliberations of Congress. It was a testament to the dedication we have to our republic when we continued with the business of Congress that same day.
At Christmas each year, I like to share a portion of a Christmas speech from President Reagan - I would like to think the hope he shared 40 years ago matches the hope we can have as we enter 2021. After a year of unprecedented challenges, it can be difficult to look for the bright side of things. It is important to remember, although the COVID pandemic is unprecedented, we have been in difficult times before.