Weekly Column

Over 700 communities across the country face mandates from the EPA to comply with the Clean Water Act (CWA). These mandates put high, and often unrealistic, demands on communities for updating their storm and wastewater infrastructure. The agency issues these orders with little regard for local infrastructure planning, investments, or costs to ratepayers. Such improvements no doubt help families stay healthy and safe. But in complying with these costly mandates, local communities have no choice but to pass on these increased costs to families through higher utility bills. Few people know this better than the residents of Omaha. In recent

Walter passed away in 2012, but his son, Roger, hoped to retrieve his dad’s medals. He knew it was a way to honor his father’s service. It was also part of his family’s heritage. Despite his best efforts, Roger was unable to get his dad’s medals. Frustrated, he reached out to my office in February.

It’s the little things that count. Greatness is in the details. These wise words hold true in so many areas of life, from family to health to personal finance. It also holds true for government finance. Here, the little things, those obscure accounts tucked away in Washington’s cobwebby corners, can swell into some very big, very bad things. One such obscure account is the Judgment Fund.

Over the past four years, I sounded the alarm about WOTUS and the negative effects it would have on all Nebraskans. The American dream of owning a home would have been out of reach for many more families due to the higher costs associated with this rule. Taxpayers would have suffered increased costs for road maintenance and construction, and ag producers would have faced expensive, confusing permitting requirements.

America grew up in Nebraska. We were the 37th state admitted to the union and the first after the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson vetoed our admission for statehood. He disagreed with a “fundamental condition” of Nebraska statehood: that black men be allowed to vote.

Nebraska has a long, proud tradition of family owned businesses. Walk down any street, in any town in our beautiful state, and you’ll find them: the furniture store, the auto parts shop, the dry cleaner, the pharmacy. Like our family owned farms and ranches, each one of these businesses provides a valuable service to our people. Together, they make our communities stronger and more vibrant.

My Build USA Infrastructure Act would directly address the near-term solvency of the HTF. Specifically, it would divert $21.4 billion annually in revenues collected by the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) on freight and passengers into the HTF. The agency only uses a portion of this revenue for operations, so allocating it to transportation would not affect the CBP’s operating budget. These diversions would take place for five years following the expiration of the latest long-term highway bill.

Judge Gorsuch attended Columbia as an undergraduate before earning a law degree from Harvard and a doctorate from Oxford University. He clerked for two Supreme Court justices, worked ten years at a firm in Washington, D.C., and has served in a senior post in the Justice Department.

The annual March for Life is one of our country’s largest and most peaceful public demonstrations. The event has long been an expression of hope and healing in the face of pain and loss. Every year, it draws attention to pro-life, pro-women policies. It also reminds us that all life is precious.

Recently, it was my pleasure to welcome Nebraskans to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 58th inauguration of the President of the United States. My husband Bruce and I held a reception for visiting Nebraska families at my offices in the Russell Senate Building, complete with coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies.