Columns

For workers and entrepreneurs, few places are as ripe with economic opportunity as the United States of America. Our world-leading workforce, natural resources, educational institutions, rule of law committed to protecting capital investment, and unique features such as deepwater ports providing access to export goods and services to consumers across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans provide opportunities for American families with few rivals elsewhere around the globe. Despite these economic strengths, there is much we can improve.

For many Americans filing taxes can be painstaking and time-consuming. Poor customer service and outdated technology systems at the IRS contribute to a lack of transparency and threaten to turn the process into a dreaded ritual every tax season. Streamlining the process to empower Americans to more easily file their taxes is an important goal.

This week our nation marked 163 years since the signing of the Homestead Act, legislation enacted by President Lincoln which played a key role in the development of farmland across Nebraska and rural America. Through perseverance, resourcefulness, and sacrifice, the Third District became a global breadbasket, and today, agriculture remains the economic driver of our state. For the future of agriculture, advancing sound domestic and international trade policy is critical to keep pace with innovation and secure prosperity for our communities.

This week, several House committees took significant steps to advance our legislative package to enact President Trump’s top policy priorities. In the Committee on Ways and Means, my colleagues and I began a meeting to consider the tax title of this package on Tuesday afternoon and spent more than 17 hours scrutinizing and deliberating before ultimately approving portions of the bill within our committee's subject matter.

In 2013, China launched its Belt and Road Initiative, a massive global infrastructure development strategy to expand its influence across the globe. Boasting 154 member countries spanning every inhabited continent and investments to date exceeding $1 trillion, the Belt and Road Initiative demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ambitions and commitment to establishing itself as a dominant superpower and shaping the world’s future. Through this program China is actively leveraging investment gifts and loans to gain sway in participating nations.

As President Trump’s second term eclipsed the 100-day mark this week, his swift actions to keep Americans safe and address the crisis on our southern border stand out in stark contrast with the failed policies of the previous administration. Executive actions to restore the Remain in Mexico policy, end the practice of catch-and-release, and appropriately classify the terror perpetrated by cartels on our southern border were long overdue.

The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to the American experiment in self-governance. From its founding, our nation has recognized how a free people must not be deprived of means of protection and self-defense. In 1791, the Founders enshrined the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights, declaring the right to bear arms “shall not be infringed.”

The Easter holiday is a special time of year to celebrate and spend precious time with family. As the spring brings signs of new growth to trees and fields, we are reminded of the gift of life, the resurrection of Christ, and the blessing of creating memories with loved ones. My work on behalf Third District Nebraskans in Congress is especially meaningful when it serves to strengthen families and the relationships most fundamental for our communities.