Opinion

I always enjoy visiting with Nebraskans and seeing the exciting developments happening across our state. As part of a recent state work period, I had the chance to spend the day in Hastings and participate in a series of business tours. In this week’s column, I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I saw that day.

By now everyone is familiar with the Uvalde, TX, mass murder. As one of the strongest supporters of the Second Amendment in the Nebraska Legislature, I felt expressing my opinion on this matter was something many people expected me to do. Out of respect for the families of the victims, I wanted to wait for the funerals to at least be finished before making any public comments.

Since 1948, Israel has been an important ally of the United States. Unfortunately, Israel has also endured a great deal of conflict with those who seek its destruction in the Middle East. Recently, they marked the 55th anniversary of Yom Yerushalayim, or Jersusalem Day, a celebration of the liberation of the city of Jerusalem from the forces of six of Israel’s aggressing neighbors during the Six Day War in 1967.

Just when we breathed a sigh of relief that the particularly nasty primary election was over and our mailboxes would once again be empty and our TV sets would resume regular programming; somebody decided we deserve more of the same.

Mental illness is a national public health issue that affects Nebraska as well. During my time as Governor, we’ve made mental health a priority and have rolled out several programs to identify mental illness and get Nebraska’s students, veterans, and others the care they need.

Your cell phone number is tied to countless aspects of your daily life. If you are like me, you have had the same number for a decade or more. Your family and friends all know how to reach you at that number. If you change it, you could lose contact with dozens of loved ones and many other people who need to contact you for crucial needs – like your bank, healthcare provider, employer, or your children’s school. Would you panic if you had to change your number all of a sudden?

It isn’t One of the rules we are currently following in the Nebraska legislature is plainly unconstitutional and it needs to be changed in the next session. The beginning of first sessions is when a motion to change the rules is in order.

Since entering into force on July 1, 2020, the United States-Mexico- Canada Agreement (USMCA) has provided a powerful framework to fight for opportunity on behalf of American workers, producers, and industry, and has strengthened ties with our nation’s top two trade partners. Spearheaded by the Trump administration as a muchneeded modernization of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), USMCA won 474 “yea” votes across both chambers as it passed through Congress, the greatest level of bipartisan support for a trade agreement since 2001.

Dear College Graduates, Congratulations! You did it! You persevered through a once-in-a-century pandemic to earn your degree. Your disciplined study and hard work have paid off.

Logic says that water flows downstream. But Nebraska might be waging an uphill battle to claim its rights to water guaranteed in a 99-year-old compact with Colorado utilizing a canal concept that was first attempted 124 years ago.