Columns
As the 2024 tax deadline nears, Americans are well aware of the outsized impact the Internal Revenue Service can have on their time, attention, and pocketbooks. From supersized agency funding to new reporting requirements on Venmo and PayPal transactions which amount to a “Babysitter Tax” to expanding IRS efforts to take over Americans’ tax preparation and tell them what they owe, the Biden administration’s IRS has continued to expand its intrusion into the daily lives of American families.
The United States’ constitutional foundation of freedom and opportunity laid the pathway for our nation to become the most prosperous on the planet. Defending the right of each citizen to pursue prosperity while limiting the government’s intrusion into our livelihoods and pocketbooks is a proven road to improved standards of living for American households of all income levels.
As we transition into spring with farmers and ranchers hard at work, recognizing National Agriculture Week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate how far we’ve come in American agriculture. According to a USDA study published in 2020, the seven decades from 1948 to 2017 saw American farmers nearly triple their total output while overall inputs remained nearly constant—a staggering achievement.
Since March 4, 1789, our Constitution has defined the powers of our federal government and bound the United States together. Ratified shortly thereafter, as ten amendments to the Constitution in 1791, the Bill of Rights reflects the genius of the American founders to safeguard liberty and guarantee the rights we hold dear as Americans. Through a bloody and bitter civil war, two world wars, and the threat of nuclear conflict, our Constitution, with the addition of 17 more amendments, has preserved our union longer than any other country’s governing charter in the world today.
Like many Nebraskans listening to the State of the Union address, I was hoping to hear President Biden correct course on his failed policies weakening border security, perpetuating inflation, and neglecting America’s trade interests. I was disappointed. Rather than embracing commonsense policies with potential to bring us together, the president needlessly continued down an extreme, far left, partisan path, distant from the views and struggles of most Americans.
In December 2023, the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released a bipartisan report outlining a strategy to combat the CCP’s growing influence around the world. I have been vocal in my support for the committee’s work. As our leading adversary and one of the world’s worst human rights abusers, the CCP continues to increase its troubling influence around the world, and the U.S.
This week is National FFA Week, our annual opportunity to commemorate the important role this organization plays in building future leaders for rural America. As we celebrate, it’s encouraging to see an increasing number of young people taking advantage of career and character-building opportunities. Across the nation, FFA participation levels are up 11 percent from last year. In Nebraska, student involvement in FFA has never been greater.
Americans are rightfully concerned about the direction of our economy. While inflation is no longer at nine percent, prices remain high, and the inflation rate remains double where it was when President Biden took office. According to Consumer Price Index analysis by the Joint Economic Committee, American families are facing an average of $11,400 more in annual expenses compared to prices when Joe Biden took office.
The crisis at our Southern Border is enormous, unprecedented, and is putting Americans at risk. According to United States Customs and Border Protection, more than 1 million migrant encounters have been recorded at the border since October 1, 2024—a mark reached faster than any previous fiscal year on record. To this point in Fiscal Year 2024, 50 individuals whose names appear in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Database have been stopped trying to enter the United States illegally.
Economic growth and opportunity in Nebraska’s Third District is powered by agricultural trade. While the United States makes up approximately 5 percent of the world’s population, America’s hardworking farmers and ranchers create enough surplus to export $200 billon in food, fuel, and fiber annually while utilizing fewer and fewer acres each year.