Opinion

Twenty years ago, the United States suffered the terrorist attacks of 9/11. No one old enough to remember that day will ever forget it. It was surreal to watch the Twin Towers collapse and heartbreaking to see images of first responders covered head to toe in dust, searching through the debris in Manhattan.

I can think of no better way to experience Nebraska than through a visit to our state fair. From the tractor pull to the incredible food and the project showcase run by 4-H and FFA, the Nebraska State Fair brings the best of our state to Grand Island for 11 days each summer. It was a pleasure to visit this year’s fair and talk with many Nebraskans while taking in all the fair has to offer.

The first very nice, cool morning came to Lincoln this week. It reminded me that fall is just around the corner and colder weather is coming. I paused to remember the coldest winter in living memory last year, and Nebraskans’ power being shut off by people in other states. With this on my mind, I wondered why is the Nebraska Public Power District circulating a survey about “decarbonization” and green energy? It seems to me their priorities are out of whack again. They should be figuring out how to never again shut off power to Nebraskans when we have more than enough generation in Nebraska to serve our state’s electricity needs.

Lincoln — U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after the last American planes left Afghanistan.

America mourns as August 26, 2021 goes down as the deadliest day for the United States military in well over a decade. The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate as a direct result of President Biden’s gross incompetence. His rushed withdrawal has emboldened terrorists, created unnecessary risk for Americans and our allies, and damaged our reputation abroad.

There was a time when serving on the local school board was a position of honor for businessmen and women, retired educators and sometimes people with aspirations for a higher office. Nebraska communities are filled with those stories and those people.

Over the past year, Nebraska’s economy has been booming, creating more and more great opportunities here in the Good Life. We currently have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.3 percent. That equals our state’s lowest rate ever and is less than half of the national unemployment rate of 5.4 percent. According to Local Area Unemployment Statistics from the Nebraska Department of Labor, 92 of our 93 counties have an unemployment rate at or below 2.7 percent. Statewide, our manufacturing employment is above prepandemic levels and has reached its highest point since the Great Recession (October 2008).

On August 26, 13 American heroes and more than 150 Afghan civilians lost their lives in a terrorist attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. I was devastated to learn that a son of Nebraska, Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page of the U.S. Marine Corps, was among them.

The Nebraska Constitution is very clear about when the Legislature is to meet, and for how long. Article III, Section 10 states that the Legislature is to commence its business for each year at 10:00 a.m. on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January. During even-numbered years, the Legislature has a maximum of 60 days to get our work done. During oddnumbered years, the Constitution allows us a maximum of 90 days, with the extra 30 days intended to give us the time we need to formulate our biennial budget.

The scenes from Afghanistan over the past week have been harrowing. As the Biden Administration quickly approached their expedited deadline to withdraw the final U.S. troops from the country, Taliban forces took over regional capitals and major cities as regular Afghan soldiers fled their posts or surrendered. On Sunday the Taliban overtook Kabul, the capital, as former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and handed over power. While this collapse is a disaster, we must remember why the U.S. military was there and understand why the Biden Administration’s withdrawal plan failed so we can better protect Americans and our allies going forward.