Columns
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.
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.
At the end of November, Nebraska closed another successful deer hunting season. While hunting is a great benefit of our constitutional right to bear arms, it is not the primary reason our founders chose to specifically enumerate this protection in our Bill of Rights. Nationwide our Second Amendment rights continue to be under threat.
When I meet with hospitals and health care providers around Nebraska, both prior to and during the current pandemic, the impact of unnecessary regulations on their ability to provide care in rural areas is always at the top of their list of concerns. Over the last four years I have appreciated working with the Trump administration on these issues because of their persistent willingness to listen to rural Americans, take these concerns seriously, and act. We cannot afford to go in the other direction.