A new year brings a valuable chance to reflect on the accomplishments of the previous year and prepare for the opportunities ahead in the next.This week, it was especially meaningful to have my two young children with me as I was sworn in to serve Nebraska’s Third District as a member of the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress.Today, I am more committed than ever to securing a prosperous future for the next generation of Americans, one built on the foundation laid by our Constitution and those who have fought to defend it.
In January 2023, to begin the 118th Congress, the first bill passed by the House was my legislation to defund the Democrats’ attempt to supersize the IRS by pouring $80 billion into the agency and hiring 87,000 new IRS enforcement agents. Since then, the Treasury Inspector General forTax Administration has reported the IRS has struggled to find new hires, targeted middle-class families with the majority of new audits, and neglected to update its own antiquated technology.While the Senate and the Biden-Harris administration failed to take up my bill after it was passed by the House, I have fought hard to successfully reclaim much of these taxpayer funds as part of several funding bills, and the first bill I introduced this week in the new 119th Congress is a bill to finish the job.
Looking back on last year, legislation I introduced in the previous Congress to safeguard American agriculture passed both houses of Congress and was recently signed into law by the president.The Beagle Brigade Act permanently authorizes the program which trains detector dogs to sniff out prohibited agricultural items which could carry foreign plant or animal pests and diseases into our country. Our farmers and ranchers tirelessly safeguard their stock from contaminants, and this new law augments Customs and Border Patrol efforts to identify and stop foreign pests and diseases from entering our food supply chain.
