Editorial

Our Constitution’s framers affirmed our right to bear arms through the Second Amendment for an important reason; to provide Americans with means of protection and seff-defenw. This week Democrats brought to the House floor two bills they claim would protect safety by resetting gal ownership. I will always be vigilant in protecting Nebraskans’ Second Amendment rights, and I opposed both bills because they would do far more to harm the rights of lawabiding Americans than to address any real problem.

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 grown 25 million gallons in 2004 to 2.9 billion gallons in 2019.