.January 2024 Originally published Jan. 7, 2024 |
February 2024 Originally published Feb. 4, 2024 |
March 2024 Originally published March 10, 2024 |
April 2024 Originally published April 14, 2024 |
May 2024 Originally published May 6, 2024 |
June 2024 Originally published June 24, 2024 |
July 2024 Originally published July 14, 2024 |
Political Violence Has No Place Here
Like many across our country, I was shocked by the horrific scene in Pennsylvania yesterday. Regardless of political ideology or beliefs, it was awful that anything like that would happen in our country, and the assassination attempt was condemned by many on both sides of the aisle.
Secret Service and law enforcement acted quickly, and I'm thankful for the men and women who neutralized the shooter, preventing further harm. The casualties could have been much worse.
Susan and I are praying for the attendees and their families, especially those who lost a loved one yesterday and those who are still recovering from their injuries.
And we are grateful that President Trump survived. As he said this morning, it is only by the grace of God that he is alive today.
After such an event, there are always a lot of questions, from how the shooter was able to reach a location with a direct line of sight of the former president to what led to the deranged lunatic’s desire to take out President Trump and supporters. Today, we mourn the loss of the innocent victim and process what we saw, but there will be a time soon to address these questions to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
A common theme among Democrats and Republicans has been clear. There is no place for political violence in the United States.
There are many policy issues on which we can disagree, but in the United States of America, we have a constitutional republic that allows us to make our voices heard at the ballot box. Republicans, Democrats and independents can and should continue to advocate for policy positions and candidates that they believe represent their values, but vitriol and violence is not the way we move our country forward. Please pray for God’s wisdom and healing in the days ahead. |
August 2024 Originally published Aug. 26, 2024 |
This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it won’t request water administration for the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. This issue has been a priority of mine since entering Congress and I’ve met with numerous stakeholders and engaged the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to come to a resolution. Fish and Wildlife’s announcement is a positive step in the ongoing challenge of preventing the federal government from restricting water usage for rural Kansans and reaffirms the reality that Kansas farmers and ranchers are best suited to preserve and administer our state’s land and resources.
While I am pleased by this positive outcome, I will continue to monitor for any threats from D.C. bureaucrats to infringe on the rights of hardworking Kansans who know best how to take care of the Sunflower State’s precious natural resources. |
September 2024 Originally published Sept. 22, 2024 |
Advocating for U.S. Innovation
Following a slew of activities and meetings with 4th District innovators and workers, I led the U.S. Innovation Tax Team to Silicon Valley for a day of meetings with some of our nation's most innovative companies. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri), U.S. Innovation Tax Team Vice Chair Michelle Steel (R-California) and I hosted two roundtables with small San Francisco Bay area startups and met with Genentech, Apple, Wisk Aero, Google, Intel, and the Silicon Valley Tax Directors Group to discuss the upcoming Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expirations.
Each group and organization shared the common theme of the importance of renewing common sense, pro-growth tax policies that encourage U.S. innovation. Many also shared the very real concern about ceding leadership in innovation to foreign adversaries and the challenge of intellectual property (IP) theft. The team heard directly how TCJA helped these organizations and startups advance innovations and bring back IP while also contributing more to the U.S. Treasury through taxes.
This isn’t a partisan issues – Republicans and Democrats agree that we need a tax code that encourages U.S. innovation. It’s why my bill to restore R&D expensing is one of the most bipartisan cosponsored bills in Congress. China is doing far more right now to encourage research and development, and we know that R&D is primarily a jobs issue, meaning that we need the right tax policies to grow jobs in the U.S. and compete with China.
Our country is competing globally for R&D, and if we don't renew and expand critical innovation policies, jobs, manufacturing and cutting edge technologies will grow elsewhere. My colleagues and I will continue to push for sensible tax policies that will help keep innovation in the U.S., boosting our economy, creating jobs and helping the Treasury. |
October 2024 Originally published Oct. 29, 2024 |
Unclaimed 401(k) Accounts
During my time as Kansas State Treasurer, I worked to reconnect Kansans with hundreds of thousands of dollars in unclaimed property and saw firsthand the life-changing impact that this had on people. Now, I am working to get the Department of Labor to do something similar when it comes to unclaimed retirement benefits.
There are 29.2 million unclaimed 401(k) accounts holding approximately $1.65 trillion in assets across our country. The workers and families who own these funds often have no idea of their existence because they have changed jobs or their former employer has gone out of business. Unfortunately, regulatory ambiguity allows thousands of these 401(k) accounts to go unclaimed.
In a recent letter I led with a fellow former state treasurer, I urged the Department of Labor to develop a uniform, nationwide regulation that allows state unclaimed property programs to help reunite individuals with their lost retirement savings. Having the Department of Labor work with state treasurers will go a long way in helping reunite retirees with their hard-earned benefits. |
November 2024 Originally published Nov. 18, 2024 |
This past year, too many Kansas students and families encountered challenges when applying for federal financial aid for postsecondary education through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Following a delayed release, the processing of submitted FAFSAs was delayed and then riddled with errors, causing further delays. These delays created confusion for schools and families, making it difficult for states and nonprofits to process aid packages or award scholarships and leaving tens of thousands of families in the dark and unable to make informed choices about financing their student’s education.
This week, by a vote of 381-1, the House passed the FAFSA Deadline Act to address these problems. This bill would require the Department of Education to make the FAFSA available to students by Oct. 1 of the year before the student’s anticipated year of enrollment to ensure students and families have ample time to make informed decisions about their postsecondary education options. I was proud to support this legislation when we marked it up in the Education and the Workforce Committee and was proud to vote for it on the floor. |
December 2024 Originally published Dec. 23, 2024 |
In a win for Kansas landowners, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week that it will not proceed with its proposed designation of the Midwest-Plains National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) that would go through Kansas, including two counties in the 4th District – Edwards and Pawnee. From the start this proposal process lacked transparency and failed to engage local stakeholders who would be impacted by the project. That’s why I wrote to the DOE secretary earlier this year and helped introduce legislation with my fellow Kansas lawmakers to stop this landgrab. Private property rights are essential to our way of life and they need to be protected from federal landgrab projects like this now defunct one. |
Bonus Story #1 Originally published May 6, 2024 |
Receiving a Fiscal Hero Recognition |
Bonus Story #2 Originally published May 12, 2024 |
Bonus Story #3 Originally published June 9, 2024 |
Bonus Story #4 Originally published Aug. 4, 2024 |
$35,059,402,347,141
Last week, our national debt surpassed $35 trillion for the first time ever. This has devastating consequences for future generations and is already negatively affecting taxpayers and our economy. In order to change our dangerous trajectory, we need more taxpayers to be knowledgeable about how this crisis is affecting them.
Recently, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and I introduced legislation informing taxpayers of their share of the national debt, which is now more than $200,000 per taxpayer. The Debt Per Taxpayer Information Act would show the true cost to our country by requiring the IRS to display the total federal government revenue, outlays, and deficit; the total gross federal debt; and an estimate of the debt for taxpayers on their annual W-2 tax forms.
It's a hopeful sign that this legislation passed out of the House Budget Committee by an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority, and I look forward to seeing it move forward. A $35 trillion debt is simply unsustainable. |
Bonus Story #5 Originally published Sept. 29, 2024 |
Reforming the Congressional Budget Office
Given our $35 trillion national debt, we need to do everything we can to change course on this growing crisis. In just the last three and a half years alone, the Biden-Harris administration has issued more than 130 executive actions that have cost taxpayers more than $2 trillion – not to mention additional judicial and administration actions in that time – demonstrating just how costly non-legislative actions can be.
That’s why I introduced the Executive Action Cost Transparency Act. This bill would mandate that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provide a comprehensive and centralized list of final administrative actions in order to increase transparency and streamline information flow, providing lawmakers and the public with needed information on spending. Improving the information that CBO provides to Congress and the public is one crucial step that will help ensure we know the true cost of D.C. spending and can begin to change course.
The House Budget Committee passed my bill out of committee last week, and I look forward to its consideration on the House floor. You can watch my full remarks during the bill’s markup below.
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Bonus Story #6 Originally published Dec. 15, 2024 |
This week I was honored to receive the True Reformer Award from NumbersUSA for my A+ grade on NumbersUSA’s immigration grade card. Our open border is a threat to our nation and our citizens. I look forward to working with the next administration to secure our border and end illegal immigration.
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