Opinion

When I was sworn in as a Nebraska state senator in January 2017, I said that “I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, and will faithfully discharge the duties of senator according to the best of my ability.”

With 1.4 billion consumers, China is a place with abundant potential. China also is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, a longtime belligerent which enslaves its own people, steals intellectual and tangible property, and flouts fundamental values like national sovereignty, free enterprise, democracy, and the rule of law around the world. While Congress has taken several small steps to restrain China this year, including passing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act which bans products made with slave labor in China’s Xinjiang region, the Biden Administration is failing to more directly confront China’s aggression.

Remember local control? It seems some state Senators have forgotten, and they’re all Republicans. State Sen.

Major Stephen Long described the Plains as the “Great American Desert” when his expedition studied our region in 1820. “It is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course, uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence,” wrote his group’s geographer. Fast forward 200 years, and Nebraska has developed into a global powerhouse of agricultural production. We rank #1 in the nation in agricultural cash receipts per capita.

Students who want to serve their country as officers in the military can apply to the U.S. Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Applicants need excellent grades, solid test scores, and with the exception of the Coast Guard Academy, a nomination from their senator or representative.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan’s LB364 was debated. It is a bill that would create tax credit scholarships for poor children whose parents want a chance to send their child to a private school. It was filibustered for a full eight hours and the cloture vote was taken. It fell five votes short of the 33 votes needed. Sen. Linehan joined the legislature the same time I did. This was the sixth time she has introduced this bill and it has died in committee or from a filibuster every time. I am confident she will continue to introduce it. Nebraska continues to be one of two states that have no form of school choice. (aka, parents deciding how their tax dollars will be spent for their child’s education.)

I always look forward to reconnecting at Christmas with family and friends in one of America’s most beautiful places – the Nebraska panhandle. Although 2021 has ended, many of the same challenges Democrats failed to address last year as they pursued their extreme economic and social agendas await when the House reconvenes next week.

Amid continuing Capitol remodeling and a lingering Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers have returned to Lincoln for the Second Session of the 107th Legislature. The so-called short session (60 days) will be long on workload, political intrigue and philosophical debate.

As we enter a new year, we face new opportunities to strengthen Nebraska. Our state will soon convene for the second session of the 107th Nebraska Legislature. I look forward to the robust debate that will fill the halls of the Capitol over the next few months as Nebraska’s senators work to deliver results for the men and women who voted them into office. These senators come from districts with diverse perspectives, and the legislation they introduce will reflect those differences. However, there are key directives that most Nebraskans back.

Laura Lambrecht never expected to lose her father, Mark, in the way she did two years ago. Mark suffered from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a devastating nervous system illness that slowly robs patients of their independence and ability to live a normal life. He passed away peacefully at home in January 2020, just a year after his diagnosis.