On Tuesday morning, under the beautiful prairie sky, U.S. Army Specialist Blaine Edward Redding was laid to rest in an old and serene Plattsmouth, Nebraska, cemetery. Specialist Redding was a 22-year-old newlywed, married just 10 weeks to…

The national debt just surpassed $13 trillion. Since 2000, the national debt and government spending have doubled, and in simple terms, every American citizen now owes $42,000 toward this debt. To govern is to choose, Mr. Speaker, and…

At its most fundamental level, the duty of Congress is to steward the tax revenue. Lately, all Congress has been doing is spending it. Through the first 8 months of the current fiscal year, the Federal Government amassed $941 billion in…

One of the most difficult challenges facing our Nation's future is providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy. The 2008 Farm Bill Energy Title provided a commitment to farm-based energy. While the intent of this agenda was to expand…

This bill has short-term extensions and permanent tax hikes and still, over time, puts $54 billion onto our national debt. Now, there are some of these extensions that we would all support if they were offset. But adding to the national…

Yesterday I offered an amendment to the Rules Committee which would protect small businesses that support business on bases. There's a movement right now to convert private employees to public or government employees at the detriment of…

One of the most difficult challenges facing our Nation's future is providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy. Rural America has tremendous wind potential. Unfortunately, these wind energy sources lack infrastructure, including the…

The reforms we have embarked on over the last 16 months... are substantive and systematic, not just cosmetic.

We believe, however, that they are crucial to ensuring that we carry out our responsibilities effectively.

This month we are celebrating World Trade Month to honor the nearly 300,000 American businesses which support millions of American jobs. International markets represent 73 percent of the world's purchasing power, 87 percent of its economic…

I thank the gentleman for the time. Madam Speaker, as we all know, this Sunday, millions of Americans will celebrate the 102nd Mother's Day. The dedication, the grace, and the love of our mothers are written on all of our hearts and the…

Despite assurances the health care bill would actually lower costs for the American people, actually things are quite different. An independent CMS report released last week concluded America will spend $311 billion more on health care…

The Third District of Nebraska is one of the largest agricultural districts in the country and is home to more than 30,000 farmers and ranchers. Yesterday, the House Ag Committee took the first step on the road leading to a new Farm Bill…

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to rise today to pay tribute to our Chaplain, Father Dan Coughlin, whom we honor today in his 10th year of service as House Chaplain and as its 59th Chaplain. On this occasion, I also wish to express my…

Tomorrow is Tax Day, a deadline dreaded by millions of Americans currently finishing up their tax returns. Congress owes it to the American taxpayer to act in a fiscally responsible way. Unfortunately, this Congress has not lived up to…

Today the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources is holding a hearing examining the Obama administration's policies of increasing taxes on and reducing funding for American energy production. Finding solutions to our country's…

We all want all people to have access to affordable health care, but this trillion-dollar tragedy is just bad medicine. Medical costs are high, but this bill does absolutely nothing to help reduce costs. It does take $500 billion from…

Let's just imagine for a moment that this health care bill before us today failed. Let's just imagine that we all awoke tomorrow and could say to one another now we have a chance to get health care reform right, health care reform that is…