Columns

The federal government of the United States has an obligation to maintain the highest standard of accountability to the American people. Families working hard to make ends meet, paying taxes to the federal government, rightfully expect a government which treats their hard-earned money with respect.

When President Trump took office, historic inflation and a failure of leadership by the Biden administration had hammered American families and small businesses. Disastrous policies led to our agriculture producers losing ground in export markets, deadly fentanyl flooding across the border, and dangerous criminals and terrorists threatening our communities due to a lack of immigration enforcement. Threats from China, Russia, Iran, and other rogue nations were rising as American influence abroad waned.

Just over a month into President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration is off to an aggressive start. Commissioned with a mandate from the people to restore American prosperity, the president has moved without delay to reassert common sense in the Executive Branch, rein in government overreach, and demonstrate international leadership. House Republicans are matching his stride, and this week, I supported House passage of legislation to set the stage to fulfill his agenda for historic growth and opportunity.

Our nation’s founders understood the importance of establishing a universal postal system from the very beginning. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin postmaster general for the American colonies, nearly a full year prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Today the United States Postal Service (USPS) makes up our largest non-military governmental infrastructure, obligated to guarantee service to all 167 million addresses across the country. 

The costly consequences of unnecessary, burdensome regulations represent one of the greatest threats to future American prosperity. In fact, a 2024 report produced by the Biden-Harris administration showed, in the year prior, the annual government-wide paperwork burden on Americans increased by 1.6 billion hours to more than 12.1 billion. This is the highest total on record. When paired with runaway inflationary spending, this overregulation was a recipe for stifling economic growth. In 2024 alone, unelected bureaucrats imposed regulations costing taxpayers more than $1.34 trillion.

In 2023, nearly 70 percent of the 105,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. involved fentanyl or another synthetic opioid. For the last four years, the lethality of these synthetic opioids was compounded by the failed open border policies of the Biden-Harris administration which allowed these highly potent drugs to flood in and destroy far too many American lives.

The American education system develops our next generation of leaders, but we must reckon with serious challenges facing our nation’s students, families, and educators. Preparing to meet the demands of adulthood and the workforce in our rapidly changing economic landscape is no easy task. It requires resilience and robust community support. Unfortunately, recent findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” indicate many students are still struggling to overcome learning gaps created during the COVID pandemic.

This week, Washington was filled with Americans showing their support for the voiceless as they’ve done every year since the March for Life began in 1974. While the pro-life movement has made historic strides in recent years, standing up for the unborn continues to be a deeply important and urgent cause. In recent decades, scientific advancements have accentuated the humanity of life in the womb. Simultaneously, pro-life Americans have faithfully advanced a culture of life which fully recognizes the dignity of the unborn in increasing measure.