Can I explain something, folks? I grew up in a twenty-four-by-thirty-six foot house. I lost three fingers on my left hand in a meat grinding accident when I was a kid. I am and always will be a farmer, like my folks and like my grandparents. In fact, I’m very proud to be the U.S. Senate’s only working dirt farmer. Every spring, I spend a lot of weeks working the stubble, getting equipment ready for planting, and out in the field seeding. Come summer, I am out there harvesting. I maintain my own heavy equipment and deliver my grain in a truck that’s a bit bigger than what any of my colleagues drive. I buy grease by the case and seeds by the ton. I butcher my own beef. My wife, Sharla, and I work the farm hand-in-hand. The task of scheduling my work in the Senate around the inflexible timing of farm responsibilities drives my staff crazy—but they know my farm work is non-negotiable. It keeps me, quite literally, grounded. And rather than spend my days hobnobbing with special interests, I rely on hard-working folks like you to power everything we do.
Thank you so much for sticking by me. I promise to spend every ounce of time fighting for you and your families (when I’m not out in the field, of course). — Jon |
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