{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"NE\" and year = 2020 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=E4D94CDE-5BA2-4301-9F9D-12749A564817", "Sasse Statement on New York Religious Liberty Win", "2020-12-28", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit struck down Governor Cuomo's discriminatory restrictions on religious gatherings, delivering a key win for the First Amendment.\nThe First Amendment is what America is all about, and that means heavy-handed politicians can't act like religious liberty is theirs to bestow or to withhold. Governor Cuomo's intentional targeting of religious New Yorkers has been slapped down in court, again. The Judicial branch is screaming from the rooftops: a pandemic doesn't rewrite the Constitution.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/rural-radio-fortenberry-usda-ag-research-facility-unl-and-covid-relief", "Rural Radio: Fortenberry on USDA Ag Research Facility at UNL and COVID Relief", "2020-12-28", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rural Radio: Fortenberry on USDA Ag Research Facility at UNL and COVID Relief", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-merry-christmas", "Fort Report: Merry Christmas", "2020-12-25", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=089F70A5-1159-4425-A673-412675E4F0CF", "Sasse Statement on Latest Round of Trump Pardons", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse released the following statement after President Trump exercised his constitutional power to issue pardons to another tranche of felons like Manafort and Stone who flagrantly and repeatedly violated the law and harmed Americans.\nThis is rotten to the core.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/time-rededication", "A Time of Rededication", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "At Christmas each year, I like to share a portion of a Christmas speech from President Reagan - I would like to think the hope he shared 40 years ago matches the hope we can have as we enter 2021. After a year of unprecedented challenges, it can be difficult to look for the bright side of things. It is important to remember, although the COVID pandemic is unprecedented, we have been in difficult times before.\nIn 1981, President Reagan took office amidst high inflation, an energy crisis, low confidence, and a recession. At his Christmas address, President Reagan did not shy away from the issues America was facing. He spoke about other difficult times in our history and reminded us that we have always persevered. Finally, he asked us to remember our dedication to Christ and the miracle of Christmas.\nKnown to history as the Great Communicator, President Reagan had a special gift of speaking to Americans. Today, we can take the lessons he taught us about finding Christ, especially during difficult times, apply them to our fight against COVID, and get through this together.\nPresident Ronald Reagan\nRadio Address to the Nation\nDecember 23, 1981\nAt Christmas time, every home takes on a special beauty, a special warmth, and that's certainly true of the White House, where so many famous Americans have spent their Christmases over the years. This fine old home, the people's house, has seen so much, been so much a part of all our lives and history. It's been humbling and inspiring for Nancy and me to be spending our first Christmas in this place.\nWe've lived here as your tenants for almost a year now, and what a year it's been. As a people we've been through quite a lot -- moments of joy, of tragedy, and of real achievement -- moments that I believe have brought us all closer together. G. K. Chesterton once said that the world would never starve for wonders, but only for the want of wonder.\nAt this special time of year, we all renew our sense of wonder in recalling the story of the first Christmas in Bethlehem, nearly 2,000 year ago.\nSome celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great and good philosopher and teacher. Others of us believe in the divinity of the child born in Bethlehem, that he was and is the promised Prince of Peace. Yes, we've questioned why he who could perform miracles chose to come among us as a helpless babe, but maybe that was his first miracle, his first great lesson that we should learn to care for one another.\nTonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us. Like the shepherds and wise men of that first Christmas, we Americans have always tried to follow a higher light, a star, if you will. At lonely campfire vigils along the frontier, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, through war and peace, the twin beacons of faith and freedom have brightened the American sky. At times our footsteps may have faltered, but trusting in God's help, we've never lost our way.\nJust across the way from the White House stand the two great emblems of the holiday season: a Menorah, symbolizing the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and the National Christmas Tree, a beautiful towering blue spruce from Pennsylvania. Like the National Christmas Tree, our country is a living, growing thing planted in rich American soil. Only our devoted care can bring it to full flower. So, let this holiday season be for us a time of rededication.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/nebraska-today-fortenberry-achieves-11m-funding-usda-agriculture-research-facility", "Nebraska Today: Fortenberry achieves $11M in funding for USDA agriculture research facility at Nebraska", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, was successful in achieving $11.2 million in federal funding for the planning and design of aUSDAAgricultural Research Servicefacility.\nThe funding is included in the federal 2021 omnibus appropriations bill, which was approved by Congress yesterday. Fortenberry said the University of NebraskaLincoln will be the site of thefacility.\nCongressman Fortenberry has been a tremendous supporter of moving agriculture into the 21st century and continuing America's role as both the leading innovator and food producer in the world. He's also been an incredible supporter of the ground-breaking work being done at our university, Chancellor Ronnie Green said. This project wouldn't have happened without his hard work and diligence in obtaining funding. It's an incredible opportunity for partnership betweenUNLand theUSDA, fueling the future of agriculture and foodproduction.\nAs the ranking member on ag appropriations, and through tough negotiations, I am very pleased that a newUSDAbuilding forARSis slated for the Nebraska Innovation Campus atUNL, Fortenberry said. With this new funding,USDAwill expand its strategic research investments in areas such as agricultural innovation and precision agriculture. This effort aligns the needs of our country and the university's agricultural researchmission.\nNebraska is the nation's third-largest ag economy, with agricultural production contributing more than $21 billion annually. Nebraska is known for the scale and diversity of its crop and livestock commodities, as well as for the abundance of its natural resources. The university is consistently ranked among the top agricultural colleges in the United States, with respected, established research programs in food, agriculture, climate, water and natural resourcesciences.\nNebraska is the epicenter of agriculture in the United States, said Mike Boehm, vice president and vice chancellor for agriculture and natural resources at Nebraska. News of this facility is a bold step to ensure American agriculture remains the leader in feeding and fueling a growing world in a sustainableway.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/norfolk-daily-news-fortenberry-credits-norfolk-doctor-his-work-covid-vaccine", "Norfolk Daily News: Fortenberry Credits Norfolk Doctor for His Work on COVID Vaccine Development", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "It was encouraging recently to see Congressman Jeff Fortenberry credit a Norfolk doctor for his work in helping to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. It was through the efforts of many people that the vaccine was developed, but Norfolkans should be proud of the hometown connection.\n\n\n\tFortenberry noted that part of the supplemental COVID funding in Congress included $20 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to stimulate investment in vaccine development. Under Operation Warp Speed, over $2.5 billion was directed to Moderna for research, testing, and to purchase over 100 hundred million doses of its vaccine. Robust federal support was also provided to eight other drug companies with vaccines in efficacy trials and 30 others in the early phases of human studies.\n\n\n\tFortenberry wrote in part, Dr. Keith Vrbicky, a Norfolk doctor, has been working on two vaccine trials right here in Nebraska.The new science of this vaccine appears to be highly effective and safe, Vrbicky said. I had two patients who were pregnant at 18 and 26 weeks, respectively, who each became very sick from the virus. They were very healthy women, yet they were in the hospital. We still don't know what the long-term effects may be for their babies. Finding a vaccine is important. That's why I agreed to help do the research right here in Norfolk. In the Moderna trial, we randomized 300 patients 50-50 to a placebo or vaccine group. For the Pfizer trial, we did the same thing with 200 patients. We required weekly diaries and blood draws  some had a sore arm or a nighttime fever. These were among the worst side effects we saw. Not a single patient said they wished they had not entered the trial.\n\n\n\tBoth vaccines were successful in stimulating antibodies for COVID at very high levels. Also, patients in the placebo arm were much more likely to be later diagnosed with COVID than those who got the vaccine.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/taking-advantage-technology-2020", "Taking Advantage of Technology in 2020", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Over the past two weeks, I have met via video conference with winners of the Third District Excellence in Innovation and Adaptation Recognition (EIAR), as well as the Third District's winner in this year's Congressional App Challenge. While I prefer meeting with Nebraskans in person, being able to recognize Nebraskans who innovated in the face of a pandemic while using technology seemed entirely appropriate.\nI rarely used video conferencing to host meetings before the pandemic. However, after being invited to participate in an online forum with the Kearney Chamber of Commerce in April, I decided to start hosting my own virtual outreach to provide timely COVID relief information to individuals and businesses in the Third District. Video technology was useful for hospitals and healthcare workers to talk about the CARES Act's provider relief funding, for banks and small businesses to ask questions about programs like the Payroll Protection Program, and for producers to learn about assistance from USDA.\nThis technology has allowed me to meet with Nebraskans throughout the district in the same way. In a typical year, I meet daily with constituents who are visiting Washington, D.C., whether they are in town with groups such as the Nebraska Farm Bureau or visiting as tourists. This year, I was able to connect with many of these groups via video, and discuss the important issues facing Nebraskans. One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting with students in the classroom. It was interesting to logon with student groups and see how they were utilizing online learning.\nI have found video meetings could be helpful in connecting Nebraskans with federal officials who may not typically find the time to get out to rural areas like the Third District on a regular basis. This benefit was on display when we were able to speak with United States Trade Representative Ag Negotiator Gregg Doud and USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce as part my online Agriculture Summit this summer, and when Ted McKinney, the USDA Under Secretary for Trade joined my small business webinar series in November. We were able to discuss many crucial topics, and technology made it possible.\nAlthough 2020 did not go the way many of us were expecting, Nebraskans always make the best of things. Positive developments like the rollout of multiple vaccines, which have been proven safe and effective through rigorous examination by the Food and Drug Administration, have me looking forward to seeing more Nebraskans in person again in 2021. However, I hope to continue taking advantage of online meeting technology, in addition to resuming in person meetings, to be even more accessible to Nebraskans in the future. I will also continue working to ensure better, faster access to broadband across rural Nebraska to ensure even more Nebraskans are able to connect in this way in the future. As we head into the new year, let's take the lessons learned of the past year, and move forward together.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/1011-news-fortenberry-speaks-house-passage-covid-relief-bill", "1011 News: Fortenberry Speaks on House Passage of COVID Relief Bill", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "1011 News: Fortenberry Speaks on House Passage of COVID Relief Bill", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/net-news-fortenberry-covid-relief", "NET News: Fortenberry on COVID Relief", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NET News: Fortenberry on COVID Relief", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-passage-2020-budget-and-covid-relief-package", "Fortenberry Statement on Passage of 2020 Budget and COVID Relief Package", "2020-12-21", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WASHINGTON, DC) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) made the following statement on the approval tonight by the U.S. House of Representatives of a roughly $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government through September 2021 and $900 billion in COVID relief.   The House bill advances national security, food security, environmental security, and health care security for Nebraska, America, and the world. A key component of the bill is a responsible COVID relief package for individuals, families, and small business. While we have made great progress in fighting through the pandemic, with large-scale vaccine distribution already in progress, many Americans are still hurting badly, necessitating additional federal support, Fortenberry said  Qualified persons will receive a $600 payment. Persons suffering unemployment will receive $300 in extra payments. And we continue funding the hugely successful Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP has been a lifeline for small business, saving over 300,000 jobs in Nebraska. We lead the nation in per capita PPP loans approved, Fortenberry added.  The omnibus appropriations bill and COVID relief package are expected to be quickly approved by the Senate, and then signed into law by the President, Fortenberry said.\n\nCongressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=A398EEB6-5854-48C6-A9F3-142931CF925F", "Senate Passes Sasse, Van Hollen Bill to Punish Foreign Companies, Individuals for IP Theft", "2020-12-20", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bipartisanProtecting American Intellectual Property Act, legislation authored by U.S. Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to mandate strong economic penalties on firms and individuals involved in stealing American intellectual property. The Senators' bill requires sanctions on individuals and firms found to engage in, benefit from, or enable the significant and serial theft of U.S. intellectual property.\r\nThis is a big step forward. Senator Van Hollen and I have worked hard to get this passed in the Senate  and we urge the House to act quickly and take up this bipartisan legislation. We can't afford more delay. China's thieves and hackers have been robbing American companies of our intellectual property, and it's time we get serious about using our economic tools  like sanctions  to fight back,said Senator Sasse.\nForeign companies are working overtime to steal U.S. technology, damaging our economy and our national security in the process. The need to fight back could not be more urgent  especially after the series of cyberattacks we have witnessed aimed at the COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. cannot sit idly by as these companies  and the governments enabling them  cheat their way to success,said Senator Van Hollen.This bill draws a line in the sand  outlining clear consequences these bad actors will face if they steal American innovation and technology. I was proud to work with Senator Sasse on this bipartisan effort, I'm glad to see the Senate act to hold these foreign entities accountable and protect American jobs. I urge the House to take up this bill immediately.\nBackground\nThe Protecting American Intellectual Property Act requires a report to Congress every six months identifying:\r\n \r\nAny individual or firm that has engaged in, benefitted from, or materially assisted the significant theft of U.S. trade secrets, if that theft constitutes a major threat to the national security, foreign policy, economic health or financial stability of the United States; and,\n\r\nThe chief executive officers and board members of the reported firms and whether those individuals have benefitted from the significant theft of U.S. trade secrets.\r\n \r\nSubsequently, the bill requires:  \r\n \r\nFor any firm identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose either property blocking sanctions or prohibit U.S. exports to that firm\r\nFor any individual identified in the report to Congress, the President must impose property blocking sanctions and must prohibit the individual's entry into the United States.\r\n \r\nThe economic penalties imposed terminate if the President certifies to Congress that the individual or firm is no longer engaged in the sanctionable behavior. The legislation also includes a national interest waiver.The text of the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act is availablehere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=C6C983A8-9D2B-4807-AE6E-E18DBF47C1B8", "Sasse, Merkley Unveil Urgently Needed Legislation to Crack Down on Online Sexual Exploitation", "2020-12-18", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Videos and photos posted without individuals' consent violate fundamental human rights and ruin lives \r\nU.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today introduced theStop Internet Sexual Exploitation Act, groundbreaking legislation that would require all online platforms that host pornography to put in place critical safeguards to protect Americans from sexual exploitation online.\nThe introduction followsdisturbing reportsof how videos and photos are uploaded to websites like Pornhub without the consent of individuals who appear in them haunting and traumatizing victims.\r\n\"Human dignity matters. A decent society has an obligation to fight sexual exploitation and human trafficking,said Sasse.For years, Pornhub and its parent company Mindgeek monetized rape, abuse, and child exploitation. While these suit-wearing traffickers got rich, their victims have lived with the pain and fear. That has to end now. Our bill is aimed squarely at the monsters who profit from rape. Washington ought to be able to come together to combat human trafficking and make this right.\"\n\"The posting of intimate photos and videos without participants' consent is a massive invasion of privacy that drives shame, humiliation, and potentially suicide,\"said Merkley.While some online platforms have recently announced steps to change some practices, much more needs to be done. We must ensure that not another single life of a child, man, or woman is destroyed by these sites.\"\nTheStop Internet Sexual Exploitation Actwould require platforms hosting pornography to verify the identity of users who upload videos, and require a signed consent form from every individual appearing in the video. The legislation would also prohibit video downloads, and would create a private right of action against an uploader who posts a pornographic image without the consent of an individual in the image.\nPlatforms would be required to create an expedited system in which victims can get videos deleted off websites. That system includes required deletion within two hours of a request and a 24-hour hotline on which individuals can make their request. Platforms would also be required to provide a notice on their website with information on how an individual can request the removal of a video, and to use software to block the re-upload of any removed videos.\nThe legislation would direct the Federal Trade Commission to enforce violations, and instruct the Department of Justice to create a database of individuals who have indicated that they do not consent to the posting of videos in which they appear. Platforms would then be required to check the database before new content could be uploaded, and any failure to do so would result in a civil penalty to the platform, with proceeds going toward services for victims.\nA summary of the legislation is availablehere. Full text of the legislation is availablehere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-getting-it-done-covid-relief", "FORT REPORT: Getting it Done, COVID Relief", "2020-12-18", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/baton-rouge-advocate-lifetime-ago-when-boy-learned-about-segregation", "Baton Rouge Advocate: A lifetime ago, when a boy learned about segregation", "2020-12-18", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "When I was in third grade, I had a friend named Phillip Brown. My birthday party was nearing, and it was common at the time to invite all the boys in the class to a party. I did invite everyone, including Phillip, who was a particularly close friend.\nThe party was at a roller-skating rink in Baton Rouge. As I was opening presents, my father came up to me and whispered in my ear, Jeffrey, is Phillip a Black boy? I said, Yes. Then I didn't think about it anymore.\nOn the following Monday at school, I saw Phillip. I was somewhat hurt because he did not show up at my birthday party. I asked him, Phillip, why didn't you come? He said, I did. They wouldn't let me in.\nI was 8 years old. The year was 1968. It turns out my father had to go outside and awkwardly explain to Phillip's father that this establishment was apparently a disturbing remnant of the old ways. Black children were not allowed in.\nFast forward 50 years. I am now a member of the United States Congress, representing Nebraska. After business concludes each day in Congress, there is a period when representatives from each side of the political aisle take time to speak, with Democrats and Republicans taking turns.\nOne evening, Rep. Al Green, an African American Democrat from Houston, was speaking about Black History Month. Green spoke extensively of his difficult times as a young lawyer facing a segregated courthouse and about important progress on civil rights that had been made in the country, adding there was still a need for more understanding.\nAs I was preparing my thoughts for my own address next  listening closely as Green was wrapping up his speech  I kept thinking about Phillip. The thought occurred to me to ask if the congressman would yield  a courteous way of seeking time to interject something. In this circumstance, it would be unusual, but I couldn't let the thought go. I decided, Yes, this is important, and asked, Will the gentleman yield? A bit startled, Green said, I would be happy to yield to the gentleman.\nI thanked him for his words and told the story of Phillip Brown  but with one new detail: the reaction of my own children when I told them of this event from my childhood. You could see the anguish on their faces. My children were aghast that such a hurtful thing could happen. They said, Daddy, you have to find Phillip.\nIn the meanwhile, Texas Rep. Ted Poe had come onto the floor of the House to get ready for his speech. Poe also asked, Will the gentleman yield? And he began to talk about similar memories of the segregation at the courthouse and his sentiments about the progress made. He said to me, Jeff, you've got to find Phillip.\nUpon a recent visit to Baton Rouge, I decided to go back to Westdale Elementary, where Phillip and I attended. It was all-White school in my time, except, as I recall, for the Brown family. I met the principal, who is an African American woman. It is now a school for children with special talents in which most of the students are African American. She was kind enough to take me on a little tour.\nSome things had been added, like air conditioning, but much was the same. I walked into one of my old classrooms. Memories flooded over me. It even smelled the same! I asked the principal, Will you look in the records? Will you help me find Phillip Brown?\nAfter I wrote this story, my mother told me something else that I never knew about. After the birthday party, Phillip's mother called my mother, in what my mother describes as the most difficult conversation of her life. Phillip had come to the birthday party dressed in a suit and tie, with a book as a gift. It was John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage.\nI still haven't found Phillip Brown. Can you help me find him?\nJeff Fortenberry, of Lincoln, represents Nebraska in the U.S. House of Representatives.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/fort-floor-national-christmas-tree", "Fort from the Floor: The National Christmas Tree", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Fort from the Floor: The National Christmas Tree", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=D8928F7E-62C8-4EFD-94E6-BC7284999B8C", "Sasse Praises Another Win for Religious Liberty", "2020-12-15", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Courtruledin favor of a Colorado church.\n\"The Supreme Court has smacked down another ham-fisted restriction specifically targeting religious liberty. We've seen this again and again and the answer is the same: a pandemic cannot rewrite the Constitution. The First Amendment is what America is all about and a public health crisis isn't going to undermine religious liberty.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=DDEFD0DE-A4DF-4998-AA24-32D0BC6847B7", "Sasse: Chinas Blood Cotton Is An Unmitigated Evil", "2020-12-15", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\"We should state this truth over and over again:Chairman Xi's dictatorship is enslaving more than half a million Uyghurs and they are being forced to pick blood cotton The Chinese Communist Party is convinced that the American people and that the institutions of the United StatesGovernmentwill simply look away.\" \r\n  \r\n\r\nVideo of Senator Sasse's remarks is availablehereor by clicking the image above.\r\n  Tonight on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, condemned the Chinese Communist Party's use of Uyghur slave labor in the cotton industry. More than half a million Muslim Uyghurs are enslaved in Xinjiang and forced to hand-pick blood cotton. Sasse's remarks follow a newreportfrom the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Dr. Adrian Zenz. \nA transcript of Senator Sasse's remarks is found below.\r\nMr. President, I rise because in a few minutes I must ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a new report released last night by Adrian Zenz of the Victims of Communism Foundation. Now, it isn't often that we enter into the Congressional Record reports that are really things that we want our constituents to read, but this report is different.\nThis report is a report that every American needs to know about because it makes clear two things.\nFirst, it makes clear that cotton from Xinjiang - which is about 20 percent of all the world's cotton, it's about 85 percent of all the cotton coming out of China, but it's about 20 percent of the global cotton, and it's a lot of the best cotton on the globe - is stained by slave labor.And the second thing that it makes clear is that a lot of this cotton is destined for the United States.\nWe are the ones demanding it and our people are making a market for this blood cotton.\nMr. President, under the guise of Orwellian terms like poverty alleviation, the Chinese Communist Party is for forcibly mobilizing minority labor, the Uyghurs, to replace the majority Han Chinese labor market that has traditionally picked some of the Xinjiang cotton. Very young and very elderly folks are often sent into facilities and everyone in between, everybody who has a body that can move into the fields is being sent into these cotton fields for the months long cotton-picking season.\nNow picking cotton is backbreaking labor and these Uyghurs that are being forced to do this as slaves are under constant surveillance, they're subjected to very long work hours, and they're forced to participate in political indoctrination sessions. Some of today's pickers have also done shifts and turns in CCP internment camps as well.\r\nWe should be very clear about what is happening here. What is happening here is an unmitigated evil.There isn't another interpretation for this slave labor that is producing the Xinjiang blood cotton.\nThis is an unmitigated evil and it is obviously far more comfortable to ignore evil than to confront it head on. And despite our many promises, it is easy to forget the human toil of totalitarianism.It is easier to just look away. And that is of course what the communist leadership in Beijing is counting on. They're counting on the fact that the U.S. citizens and corporate leadership and politicians will just be busy and will say, Well that would just be messy to have to confront so we should just look away. We said we would never forget, but let's just not notice.'\nSo, we should state this truth over and over again.Chairman Xi's dictatorship is enslaving more than half a million Uyghurs and they are being forced to pick blood cotton. That is what this report from the Victims of Communism Foundation last night clearly demonstrates. The Chinese Communist Party is convinced that the American people and that the institutions of the United StatesGovernmentwill simply look away. So, we need to say again and again that Chairman Xi's dictatorship is enslaving more than half a million Uyghurs, they're being forced into slavery in the cotton fields, much of that cotton is destined for U.S. markets, and Chairman Xi and his underlings are counting on the fact that though America raises a light of liberty in our rhetoric they are expecting that we will just look away in practice and in fact in our marketplaces.\r\nWe should not and we cannot give them that victory, Mr. President.\nBeijing's Communist Party does not care about basic human dignity. The genocidal leaders that are running the government in Beijing - and again we need to distinguish every time we talk about topics like this, we need to distinguish between the leadership of the Communist Party in Beijing and the regular 1.4 billion Chinese citizens, many of whom have nothing to do with these evils and wouldn't countenance them if they had the power. But the genocidal leadership of the Communist Party in Beijing is running systematically oppressive slave regimes against Muslims and against other ethnic minorities. Their cruelty is unmatched.They are ripping families apart. They are forcibly separating children from parents, they forcibly separate husbands and wives, they send goons in to rape the wives whose husbands have been sent away hoping that they can impregnate them with other ethnic children to sort of extinguish the Uyghur population in this region. They're brainwashing children. They have weaponized forced abortions and sterilization. They have systematically demolished mosques.\nWhat is happening in Xinjiang is not grey. What is happening in Xinjiang is evil.\nChairman Xi's underlings do not believe that the Uyghurs are human and the racistChinese Communist Party in Beijing believes that these men and women are little better than animals, and that they can be exploited asslaves. In Xinjiang, cotton is king.\nHow does Beijing try to explain this away? Well of course there are a whole bunch of lies that they try to use to cover it up. According to their propaganda, the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are lazy people and they need help to overcome their laziness. They need to learn about work and they need to be helped out of poverty. These are the sort of the top-line versions of their disgusting lies, but they don't really think that anybody is persuaded by these lies. What they expect is that the money will do the persuading for them. They don't think that these lies are rolled out in a way that is really going to really be compelling to anyone. What they really expect is that they won't pay attention to where high-quality, cheap cotton often comes from and that we'll just look away.\nHere's the painful truth: The global supply chains that have benefited from this blood cotton have gotten some really good cotton at really cheap prices. In 2019 an estimated 70% of Xinjiang's cotton was picked by hand, making it some of the highest quality cotton in the world. Some of the most desirable cotton at any marketplace and its incredibly cheap because it's picked by salve labor. Xinjiang produces about 85% of China's cotton and about 20% of the world's cotton.It is impossible to separate blood cotton from the small minority that is not picked in these slave fields\nAnd here's what it means in America and around the world: it means that we are living in a sea ofhypocrisy, because we have a whole bunch of U.S. companies that celebrateindividuality, individualism, make some unbelievably good commercials, and talk about the expansion of human potential, at the same time being cosponsors of slave fields. That's what we're talking about here, and we can't and we shouldn't simply look away.\nThe extensiveness of the CCP's forced labor programs are such thatmany U.S. companies -- including at least 82 identifiable global brands -- have benefitted from the Xinjiang, slave-cotton labor. Gap and Nike are two of the companies that are most obviously singled out, and the CCP has helped them cut their costs and expand their market access. In exchange, what they ask for is a really polite see-no-evil policy. The commercials that are aired in the primetime in major sporting events of the U.S. are aired by companies that at the same time say, Please don't ask us about our supply chains. We don't want to have to give any account for that. These companies spend billions of dollars running ad campaigns touting values like self-determination, and yet they are quietly importing communist values, particularly about the lack of human dignity. We don't want those values imported into the United States. We don't want to look away. We don't want to be people who say, Never again and never forget. And then to just casually say, I'm never going to notice. We don't want to be those people.\nToday, I've written letters to both Gap and Nike asking them to help. Asking them to please help make transparent to the American people what they know about their supply chains and how we should clean them up. We need to tackle the problem of this blood cotton fromXinjiang, and we need to give the American public, the American consumer, a transparent look into what these supply chains look like, where they come from, and how much blood they are tainted with.\r\nIn the coming weeks, I and others will be reaching out to more companies than Gap and Nike, but those are the two letters I sent today. Americans in government and business, and even Americans as we go to the store with our wallets, and we as consumers in the retail marketplace, we need to be aware of what's happening. We need to be a people that believe in defending human rights.\nThe unjust status quo is very profitable and so many companies are fighting this change. They're fighting this transparency. As attention in Congress has turned towards supply chain integrity concerns in recent months, companies have begun to deploy high-paid lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Americans who believe strongly in human rights and fundamental freedoms have been justifiably confused about these efforts to weaken legislation that seeks to ban imported goods that's made with Chinese Communist Party's slave labor.\nBusiness that claim a fundamental respect for human dignityoughtto share with their consumers and with their shareholders how they ensure the integrity of their supply chains. Because again, 20% of the world's cotton comes from this part of China, and 85% of that cotton looks like it's tainted by blood cotton.\r\nCompanies need to come clean if they have been asked by the CCP to stay silent about the human rights abuses in China.Companies need to re-evaluate the costs and the benefits - and the costs are high - of partnering with a genocidal regime. They need to do it themselves. These companies need to do it themselves because it's right, and they need to be pushed to do it because it's hard, and because the competitive marketplace has many of their other peer companies and competitor companies also benefitting from this same slave cotton.\nThe United States Congress has become increasingly concerned about the Chinese Communist Party's pay-to-play shakedown of American companies. There is currently a bill under consideration in this body that forces a long overdue review of supply chains, and there are going to be many more bills and pieces of legislation like this coming. And companies, even if they don't want to do it for the right reason, should do it for the pragmatic reason of getting in front of this, because this attention is not going to go away. The concern in this body and in this congress is bipartisan about the blood in the slave supply chains in many of these industries.\nThe United States celebrates the ideals of universal human dignity. The Chinese Communist Party explicitly rejects these ideals. In this ideological competition, Beijing is working to exploit something. They are working to exploit the moral concessions of American CEOs. CEOs and boards, you need to do better. American consumers, you need to ask hard questions, and this congress needs to do some serious investigating.\nAmerican global companies that find their roots in the freedom-loving worlds and countries, and that express our public support for fundamental human freedoms that produce their success, must act now. There is more to do than maximize the bottom line. That is not the only value. The Senate is increasingly willing to act to ensure that American companies do not import misguided Chinese Communist Party values into these shores.\nRight now it is too easy, it is too comfortable, and it is too profitablefor many American and global companies to simply ignore the evil. We need to make the suffering in Xinjiang known. We need to speak about theUyghurs.These men, women, and children have God-given dignity, and we should not look away. Americans need to know about this evil so that we can together confront it. We need to dismantle the Chairman Xi's lies. We need to make it unconscionable for American businesses to profit from Chairman Xi's injustices.\r\nAnd so, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that we would enter into the Congressional record this report from the Victims of Communism Foundation, released last night, about the blood slave labor in Xinjiang.\nSenatorRoberts: Without objection, it is so ordered.\nSenator Sasse: Thank you, Mr. President.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=8C76005C-DA40-4C1F-B905-087BED050724", "Sasse Statement on Uyghur Slave Labor", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "New report details CCP's use of Uyghur slaves in cotton industry. \r\nU.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement regarding a new report from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Dr. Adrian Zenz thatdetailsthe Chinese Communist Party's exploitation of Uyghur slave labor in the cotton industry. \nChairman Xi's dictatorship is enslaving more than half a million Uyghurs in Xinjiang and forcing them to hand-pick blood cotton. The Chinese Communist Party is systematically oppressing the Uyghurs  enslaving them, ripping their families apart, and raping and forcibly impregnating women by non-Uyghur men. Americans cannot be corporate sponsors of slavery and genocide. We need to ban the importation of goods that depend on Uyghur slave labor.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-floor-national-christmas-tree", "Fort from the Floor: The National Christmas Tree", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-conservation-and-national-security-0", "FORT REPORT: Conservation and National Security", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "I invite you to review an interview I did this week at a forum on Conservation and National Security. In it, I begin to unpack a new architectural paradigm for the 21st century in which we are safe, prosperous, and aligned with a healthy, clean environment. An ethos in which we move away from make, take, and waste, to one where we regenerate. That's how we protect our natural security in the 21st century.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-2020-election", "Fortenberry Statement on 2020 Election", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) issued the following statement today on the 2020 election. The Electoral College has voted and affirmed Vice President Biden's victory. I wish to thank President Trump for his service, and I wish President-Elect Biden the best as he assumes the awesome responsibility of governing our great nation, Fortenberry said.\n\nCongressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-2020-election-0", "Fortenberry Statement on 2020 Election", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) issued the following statement today on the 2020 election. The Electoral College has voted and affirmed Vice President Biden's victory. I wish to thank President Trump for his service, and I wish President-Elect Biden the best as he assumes the awesome responsibility of governing our great nation, Fortenberry said.\n\nCongressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-fda-approval-pfizer-covid-vaccine", "Fortenberry Statement on FDA Approval of Pfizer COVID Vaccine", "2020-12-14", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WASHINGTON, DC) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) issued the following statement today on FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.  \n\t  \n\tOn a call with the FDA and other leaders in Congress today about emergency use authorization of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA noted that this vaccine meets the gold standard for safety and efficacy, and that no corners were cut, Fortenberry said.  \n\t  \n\tThe FDA will continue to hold public meetings as additional vaccines are considered for approval. While this is an important milestone for America, our oversight role in Congress will continue with robust surveillance of vaccine safety and assurance that vaccines are administered fairly, Fortenberry added.  \n\t Please see the FDA fact sheet here: https://bit.ly/2Wbbap2 Fortenberry Tweet on FDA Approval: https://bit.ly/3oGGecs  Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=58BCE3A2-48DA-47E1-B853-B1CF8A40BF00", "Sasse Statement on Passage of 2021 NDAA", "2020-12-11", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after the passage of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.\n\"The uncomfortable truth is that we've been lagging behind when it comes to cyber and wars are already being fought with hackers. Here's the good news though: because of the Solarium Commission's work, this year's defense bill makes our cyber strategy stronger than ever before. We've got a whole lot more work to do, but this is real progress. Two dozen of our provisions are in this defense bill and that's exactly why I've been working on this front for years.\"\nBackground:\r\nThis year's NDAA includes 26 provisions that were led by Senator Sasse and the rest of the legislative commissioners appointed to Solarium. Most notably, they include:\r\n \r\nEstablishes a National Cyber Director and the Office of the National Cyber Director within the Executive Office of the President in a Senate-confirmed capacity.\r\nCreates a Continuity of the Economy Plan to ensure we have a recovery plan in place in the event of a major disruption.\r\nForms the Joint Cyber Planning Office under CISA to facilitate the planning of cohesive cybersecurity campaigns between federal agencies and the private sector.\r\nDirects the Executive Branch to submit a report to Congress that evaluates current Federal cybersecurity centers and areas for improvement.\r\nTasks DHS with conducting a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Review on the ability of CISA to accomplish its current missions.\r\nEstablishes a Department of Homeland Security CISA Director.\n\r\nEstablishes a Cybersecurity Advisory Committee.\n\r\nGives administrative subpoena authority to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to identify vulnerable systems and notify both public and private system owners.\r\nAuthorizes CISA to perform threat hunting identification on federal networks.\r\nCodifies sector specific agencies as Sector Risk Management Agencies that will establish responsibilities and requirements for identifying and assessing risk for critical infrastructure sectors.\r\nCreation of a Biennial National Cyber Exercise that will be conducted every two years for ten years.\r\nRequires the DoD to assess Private-Public Collaboration in Cybersecurity.\n\r\nDirects the DoD to conduct a force structure assessment of the Cyber Mission Force.\r\nDirects the DoD to evaluate statutes, rules, regulations, and standards that pertain to the use of the National Guard for the response to and recovery from significant cyber incidents.\r\nImprovements relating to the Quadrennial Cyber Posture Review.\n\r\nCreates a Report on Enabling U.S. Cyber Command Resource Allocation that ensures Cyber Command has the necessary means and the budget needed to fulfill its mission.\r\nRequires an assessment from the DoD of non-traditional cyber support.\n\r\nCreates a Defense Industrial Base Participation in a Threat Intelligence Sharing and Mitigation Program.\r\nMandates a report on the risk to national security posed by quantum computing technologies.\r\nRequires the DoD to develop a comprehensive plan pertaining to the cyber defense of nuclear command and control systems.\r\nModification of Requirements Relating to the Strategic Cyber Security Program and the Evaluation of Cyber Vulnerabilities of Major Weapon Systems of the DOD: Tasks the DoD with developing an annual assessment of cyber vulnerabilities of Major Weapon Systems.\r\nAsks the GAO to conduct a study of Cybersecurity Insurance.\n\r\nEnhances the federal government's ability to recruit, develop, and retain a stronger cyber workforce.\r\nAuthorizes the Cybersecurity Education and Training Assistance Program.\n\r\nRenews the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.\n\r\nDirects DHS to develop a strategy to secure U.S.-based email providers.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=FB0F1390-1281-4AC0-9E2E-E200CF2C533B", "Sasse Statement on Supreme Courts Election Decision", "2020-12-11", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement after the United States Supreme Court rejected the Texas attorney general's lawsuit to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.\r\n\"Since Election Night, a lot of people have been confusing voters by spinning Kenyan Birther-type, Chavez rigged the election from the grave' conspiracy theories, but every American who cares about the rule of law should take comfort that the Supreme Court  including all three of President Trump's picks  closed the book on the nonsense.\"\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/protecting-second-amendment", "Protecting the Second Amendment", "2020-12-11", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "At the end of November, Nebraska closed another successful deer hunting season. While hunting is a great benefit of our constitutional right to bear arms, it is not the primary reason our founders chose to specifically enumerate this protection in our Bill of Rights. Nationwide our Second Amendment rights continue to be under threat. In fact, ongoing attempts by the House majority to weaken our Second Amendment rights, not to mention possible future presidential actions, have destabilized the arms and ammunition markets causing widespread shortages and shocking prices for common hunting and self-defense firearms and ammunition.\nIn order to protect our Second Amendment rights, we must always be vigilant to ensure the government is upholding these rights. For this reason, I have cosponsored several bills and signed letters which seek to cement these rights, and to gain ground which has been unconstitutionally lost in the past.\nAlthough the Second Amendment is quite clear, a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, states continue to find ways to muddy the waters and pass laws effectively diminishing this right. One way anti-gun activists have been successful in undermining the Second Amendment is through restrictions on interstate travel and sales with firearms, even though they are not necessary due to the robustness of the FBI's current federal background check database.\nRemoving interstate sales restrictions does not hinder states' abilities to regulate gun purchasing. To address this, I have cosponsored the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act (H.R. 2443) which would reduce the burden on law-abiding citizens, including active duty military and their accompanying spouses, to allow them to buy firearms across state lines, as long as they meet applicable requirements at the point of purchase and in their home state of record. I have also cosponsored the Lawful Interstate Transportation of Firearms Act (H.R. 5935) which would expand upon existing law and protect law-abiding travelers who are carrying a legal firearm. H.R. 5935 includes specific language protecting ammunition and magazines as well because targeting these items has become another tool used by anti-gun activists.\nI am also concerned by some recent actions by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), including their refusal to accept e-signatures filed by third party processors despite no evidence of security risks or potential for exploitation. I cosigned a letter to Attorney General Barr expressing concerns regarding these ATF limitations and will continue working to ensure consumers can easily and securely comply with the National Firearms Act (NFA) eForms submission process.\nAnother recent tactic used by anti-gun activists has been targeting and pressuring businesses to cease their relationships with firearms manufacturers and dealers. Because of my concerns of this bias that could permanently shutter these businesses, especially during the rollout of CARES Act programs earlier this year, I signed a letter to the Treasury Department, Small Business Administration, and Federal Reserve asking them to ensure participating banks did not discriminate on this basis.\nComplacency regarding our rights is just as dangerous as efforts to undermine them. We cannot allow something as crucial as the Second Amendment to be eroded; we must actively support it. I will always be a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, ensuring Nebraskans have the ability to defend themselves, as well as enjoy rifle season every November.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/smith-congratulates-sallie-and-alan-atkins-their-introduction-nebraska", "Smith Congratulates Sallie and Alan Atkins on their Introduction to the Nebraska Cattlemen Hall of Fame", "2020-12-09", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE),released the following statement after Sallie and Al Atkins were inducted into the Nebraska Cattlemen Hall of Fame on December 4, 2020.\nSallie and Al were innovators on their ranch near Halsey, Nebraska, where they raised commercial Angus crossbred cattle and served their community and state in many leading roles in the agriculture industry.\nSallie previously served as Agriculture Director in Smith's office, where she led engagement efforts on statewide agriculture issues and served as the liaison for Third District producers, agriculture groups, and other stakeholders.\nSallie has more than 30 years of experience in Nebraska agriculture, including having served as regional director of membership for the Nebraska Farm Bureau. She has also served as executive director and chairman of the Nebraska Beef Council, vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen, and board chairman of the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council. Additionally, she has been active in Nebraska 4-H and FFA. Her work on the Nebraska State Fair earned her the 2011 Nebraska Volunteer of the Year award.\nSallie and Al have been staples of Nebraska agriculture for a long time, said Smith. I have had the pleasure of visiting their AL Ranch.' It is an impressive operation. Few Nebraskans have had the impact on Nebraska agricultural that Sallie and Al have, and I couldn't think of a more fitting recognition than the Nebraska Cattlemen Hall of Fame. I thank them for all they have done for our great state.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/lincoln-journal-star-fortenberry-gathers-240-co-sponsors-bill-combat-als", "Lincoln Journal Star: Fortenberry gathers 240 co-sponsors for bill to combat ALS", "2020-12-09", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Jeff Fortenberry has gathered the signatures of 240 House co-sponsors for a bill to speed and expand access to critical and promising therapies for ALS patients while streamlining the drug review process that sometimes stands in their way.\nFor ALS patients, there is no time to waste.\nIt usually takes 2-5 years for ALS to destroy a body, Fortenberry said during a House floor speech.\nALS patients are currently trapped in \"an overly deliberative process that is killing hope\" by delaying access to critical therapies and investigational treatments, Fortenberry said, and they could be helped by \"a more consistent and streamlined drug review process.\" The legislation is designed to be \"more responsive to patients suffering right now,\" the 1st District Republican congressman said.\n\"We can act quickly if we want to,\" Fortenberry said. \"We can act quickly if we are determined. We can do this.\"\nALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal nervous system disease. \"There is no cure,\" Fortenberry said, but there are promising therapies. Earlier this year, he said, \"my wife's little brother\" died as a result of ALS at the age of 37, leaving behind his own wife and four small children.\nFortenberry's bill, titled Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, would establish a Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Federal Drug Administration to accelerate development and approval of therapies. \"This is a full-court press,\" the congressman said. \"So many people of good heart have helped us build tremendous bipartisan momentum.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=64E521BE-115F-46EE-AC1F-D72CBCF4EBAD", "Sasse Applauds 26 Cyber Solarium Recommendations in 2021 NDAA", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, creator of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, applauded the inclusion of 26 recommendations from the commission into the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.\r\n\"Modern wars are fought not just with bombs but also with bytes. The creation of the National Cyber Director and the inclusion of two dozen of our Solarium recommendations in this year's defense bill is great news. We've got a lot more work to do, but this is real progress today.\"\r\nBackground:\r\nThrough Sen. Sasse's legislativeinitiative, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission was signed into law as part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Sen. Sasse was appointed to serve on the Commission, which officially launched in April 2019. In March 2020, the Commissionreleasedtheir finished report.\nOf the 26 recommendations adopted in this year's NDAA, a number of provisions were led by Sen. Sasse and Sen. King, the Co-Chairs of the Commission:\n\r\n \r\nEstablishment of the National Cyber Director and the Office of the National Cyber Director within the Executive Office of the President to serve in a Senate-confirmed capacity as the President's principal cyber advisor and provide a nexus for cybersecurity leadership in the White House.\n\r\nCreation and maintenance of a Continuity of the Economy Plan to ensure the rapidreboot of national critical functions of the economy following a catastrophic cyberattack.\r\nSeveral recommendations to strengthen the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency including the establishment of a Joint Cyber Planning Officeto facilitate comprehensive planning of defensive cybersecurity campaigns and the review of federalcybersecurity centers for integration within CISA.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/commonsense-health-care", "Commonsense Health Care", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "When I meet with hospitals and health care providers around Nebraska, both prior to and during the current pandemic, the impact of unnecessary regulations on their ability to provide care in rural areas is always at the top of their list of concerns. Over the last four years I have appreciated working with the Trump administration on these issues because of their persistent willingness to listen to rural Americans, take these concerns seriously, and act. We cannot afford to go in the other direction.\nA commonsense, innovation-centric approach to health care has helped America take center stage in the fight against COVID. Operation Warp Speed, made possible by the CARES Act, has expedited the vaccine process, while maintaining the U.S.'s world class safety standards. The U.S. leads the world in vaccine development and millions of vaccine doses are expected to be ready to distribute to frontline health care workers in the coming weeks once the Food and Drug Administration affirms what we have seen in preliminary results from vaccine trials.\nThe pandemic has also renewed our focus on the critical need for flexibility and innovation in our health care system. When facing an unprecedented health crisis, we must be able to adjust and implement new ideas and solutions, not just place new limits. In high risk locations such as skilled nursing facilities, this is particularly important. For this reason, I have introduced the RUSH Act, legislation I was developing even before the pandemic, which would allow patients in these facilities to be treated in place using new technologies like telehealth, rather than risking a trip to the hospital. This potentially life-saving legislation creates incentives for skilled nursing facilities to use innovative technologies and improve rural health care.\nIn rural America we know what works in New York City, may not work in York, Nebraska. Regulations like Medicare's 96-hour rule, which requires small rural hospitals to take steps to discharge or transfer a patient to another hospital within four days, might make sense in more populous areas, but not in rural Nebraska where the nearest large, regional hospital could be many miles and several counties away. I have introduced legislation in the past to repeal this dangerous rule and was pleased when the Trump administration took regulatory action to end enforcement of the rule. I will continue fighting to implement this relief into law and ensure future administrations can't restore this disastrous, unnecessary rule. Health care providers, not the federal government, know best whether they can safely treat a patient in a rural setting or need to transfer them.\nWe cannot afford to stifle innovation and strangle our health care system with harmful regulations. We must build on the work from the last four years to spur innovation. I will continue my efforts to drive down health care costs, improve consumer access, and fight against socialized medicine.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/smith-statement-passing-richard-everett", "Smith Statement on Passing of Richard Everett", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement after the passing of Richard Everett of Runza Restaurants.\nThere is hardly anything more identifiably Nebraskan than Runza.Richard Everett carried forward his mother's entrepreneurial spirit while providing Nebraskans with high quality restaurant options and cities across our state with many a community gathering place. \n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-vaccine-development-safety-timing", "Fort Report: Vaccine Development, Safety, Timing", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As I have done throughout the pandemic, I want to provide you with the latest and best information from our nation's leading experts. Given my work as the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), I recently took the opportunity to converse with FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn on the development of COVID vaccines and continued testing.   Dr. Hahn and I spoke about the rigorous review process the FDA undertakes to ascertain the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and how he anticipates this process playing out over the coming weeks. As Dr. Hahn noted, the typical schedule will be compressed, but there will be no cutting corners in ensuring that vaccines are safe and meet the FDA's highest quality standards.   Dr. Hahn encouraged you to join the public FDA Advisory Committee meeting on December 10 to gain an in-depth understanding of the FDA's processes before releasing vaccines for general use. I will be sharing a link to that meeting on my social media pages.  For now, I invite you to review our enlightening and optimistic discussion about our fight against coronavirus.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=569CFCF2-5A1E-492D-A9A9-595AB45011AD", "Sasse Statement on California Restrictions", "2020-12-03", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Court handed a win to Harvest Rock Church which is fighting restrictions on worship in California.\r\n\"This is more good news for the rule of law and religious liberty. The Supreme Court is right: A pandemic doesn't rewrite our Constitution. States like California need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to be smart about fighting this nasty virus without trampling Americans' First Amendment freedoms.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/c-span-fortenberry-speaks-house-floor-behalf-act-als", "C-SPAN: Fortenberry Speaks on House Floor on behalf of the ACT for ALS", "2020-12-02", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "C-SPAN: Fortenberry Speaks on House Floor on behalf of the ACT for ALS", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/blog-post", "Blog Post", "2020-12-01", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", null, 0, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/tribute-baba-sheikh", "Tribute to Baba Sheikh", "2020-12-01", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Tribute to Baba Sheikh", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/als-patients-hope-congress-can-deliver-access-potential-therapies-bipartisan-bill", "ALS patients hope Congress can deliver access to potential therapies with bipartisan bill", "2020-11-30", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "It's the fight of her life.\nMayuri Saxena is 36 years old, holds a double master's degreeand has lost the ability to use her body bit by bit.\nShe was diagnosed with ALS four years ago, and the progression of theneurodegenerative diseasehas been swift and relentless. She can no longer walk, stand, use her arms or legs, swallow unassistedor speak. As a New Yorker coming of age in a post-9/11 world, she once hoped to affect change through her work in international relations. But as a quadriplegic, she now relies on round-the-clock care for the most basic of necessities, and even a cough could prove fatal.\nMayuri is one of about 30,000Americans who are staring down a death sentence. The typical timeline from the onset of symptoms to death for an ALS patient is two to five years, and about 6,000Americans die each year with the disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.\nThe disease disproportionately affects those in the military; one in six people diagnosed is a veteran. Pat Quinn, co-founder of the popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that raised awareness about the illness,died fromit earlier this week. He was37.\nWhile there is no cure and few therapeutics on the market, pharmaceutical companies are developing drugs and therapies that might treat this terminal illness -- and the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, better known as the Act for ALS, would grant more patients access to those potential therapies currently in trials.\nMayuri's brother, Mayank Saxena, says this legislation could mean the difference between life and death for his sister.\n\"There's no word to describe the agony I feel that she's going through that, knowing there's biotechnology that exists on this planet that could have helped her and could help her still,\" he said. \"This will give [patients] a pathway. Even if it doesn't work for them, at least they're marching toward some type of hope.\"\nRep.Mike Quigley, D-Ill., who is co-sponsoring theHouse legislationalong with Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., echoes that sentiment.\n\"Hope may be the best thing,\"he said.\"I think it provides hope, and in these extreme times, that's very important,\"\nFor both Quigley and Fortenberry, this legislation is personal. Quigley's father suffered from a degenerative neurological condition, and Fortenberry's brother-in-law died from ALS. He was survived by a wife and four children.\n\"People are suffering, and we can help,\" Fortenberry said. \"I've met so many beautiful people who have come to my office to explain this story, who are of good heart, who are courageous, who are fighters, and have created a network of solidarity trying to think more creatively about how to attack this disease.\"\nIf the bill passes, it would provide a pathway to treatment for patients who don't qualify to participate in phase three clinical trials by allowing access to drugs and therapies at trial sites. It also would fund research for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases and create a collaborative of officials in the public and private spheres with the goal of speeding up development and approval of drugs for these types of illnesses.\nWith close to 200 co-sponsors, House legislators are optimistic about the bill's passage. A twin bill, co-sponsored by Sens.Chris Coons, D-Del.,and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is making its way through the Senate, and advocates are hopeful the legislation can land on President Trump's desk before the year's end.\n\"We have a movement across the country of people who have stepped up. ... There's a strong desire for real science, and real hope to stop the suffering,\" Fortenberry said. \"I think we can get this done.\"\nWith only a couple of weeks left in this legislative calendar, Fortenberry hopes the House can move quickly through a series of aggressive, end-of-year efforts.\n\"We've set this up purposely so if there is alignment, we can run this fast and get it through to the president's desk. We're not there yet, but that would be my desire,\" Fortenberry said.\nIn a bitter political climate, Quigley sees this legislation as a chance to show the American people that lawmakers can work together for the common good.\n\"It's hope for those who look at our country and see dysfunction but given an opportunity ... [will see] that we can accomplish something,\" he said.\nFor Mayuri, the bill's passage would be not only an accomplishment for the ALS community -- she believes it will give those trapped inside increasingly lifeless bodies the will to live.\n\"Other ALS patients come to me and ask whether it is worth fighting for their lives,\" she wrote, using a speech-generating device that operates with eye gaze technology, similar to the machine world-famous scientist Stephen Hawking used to speak. \"That answer depends on whether this bill gets passed or not.\"\nWith that in mind, her brother Mayank, advocate Michelle Lorenz and a team of grassroots groups have waged a tireless and highly organized campaign to raise awareness among congressional members and their constituents, including a letter-writing effort and website called HelpMayuri.com that helps mobilize supporters to email their local representatives. Lorenz has met with more than 200 legislators during the last five months and with 17 senators' offices this week.\n\"Death is not a partisan issue,\" she said.\"If you can agree on any bill, for God's sake, it should be this bill.\"\nIn the waning days of the lame duck session, Mayank is pleading with lawmakers to help his sister, who may die if action is put off until next year.\n\"She is my sister. She could also be your mother, who falls down the stairs. It could be your son who collapses on the soccer field,\" he said. \" If this were your loved one who was actively suffering and dying, and you knew there was a one percent chance of hope, what would you do to get that treatment in their dying bodies today?\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/fox-news-als-patients-hope-congress-can-deliver-access-potential-therapies", "Fox News: ALS patients hope Congress can deliver access to potential therapies with bipartisan bill", "2020-11-30", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "It's the fight of her life.\nMayuri Saxena is 36 years old, holds a double master's degreeand has lost the ability to use her body bit by bit.\nShe was diagnosed with ALS four years ago, and the progression of theneurodegenerative diseasehas been swift and relentless. She can no longer walk, stand, use her arms or legs, swallow unassistedor speak. As a New Yorker coming of age in a post-9/11 world, she once hoped to affect change through her work in international relations. But as a quadriplegic, she now relies on round-the-clock care for the most basic of necessities, and even a cough could prove fatal.\nMayuri is one of about 30,000Americans who are staring down a death sentence. The typical timeline from the onset of symptoms to death for an ALS patient is two to five years, and about 6,000Americans die each year with the disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.\nThe disease disproportionately affects those in the military; one in six people diagnosed is a veteran. Pat Quinn, co-founder of the popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that raised awareness about the illness,died fromit earlier this week. He was37.\nWhile there is no cure and few therapeutics on the market, pharmaceutical companies are developing drugs and therapies that might treat this terminal illness -- and the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, better known as the Act for ALS, would grant more patients access to those potential therapies currently in trials.\nMayuri's brother, Mayank Saxena, says this legislation could mean the difference between life and death for his sister.\n\"There's no word to describe the agony I feel that she's going through that, knowing there's biotechnology that exists on this planet that could have helped her and could help her still,\" he said. \"This will give [patients] a pathway. Even if it doesn't work for them, at least they're marching toward some type of hope.\"\nRep.Mike Quigley, D-Ill., who is co-sponsoring theHouse legislationalong with Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., echoes that sentiment.\n\"Hope may be the best thing,\"he said.\"I think it provides hope, and in these extreme times, that's very important,\"\nFor both Quigley and Fortenberry, this legislation is personal. Quigley's father suffered from a degenerative neurological condition, and Fortenberry's brother-in-law died from ALS. He was survived by a wife and four children.\n\"People are suffering, and we can help,\" Fortenberry said. \"I've met so many beautiful people who have come to my office to explain this story, who are of good heart, who are courageous, who are fighters, and have created a network of solidarity trying to think more creatively about how to attack this disease.\"\nIf the bill passes, it would provide a pathway to treatment for patients who don't qualify to participate in phase three clinical trials by allowing access to drugs and therapies at trial sites. It also would fund research for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases and create a collaborative of officials in the public and private spheres with the goal of speeding up development and approval of drugs for these types of illnesses.\nWith close to 200 co-sponsors, House legislators are optimistic about the bill's passage. A twin bill, co-sponsored by Sens.Chris Coons, D-Del.,and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is making its way through the Senate, and advocates are hopeful the legislation can land on President Trump's desk before the year's end.\n\"We have a movement across the country of people who have stepped up. ... There's a strong desire for real science, and real hope to stop the suffering,\" Fortenberry said. \"I think we can get this done.\"\nWith only a couple of weeks left in this legislative calendar, Fortenberry hopes the House can move quickly through a series of aggressive, end-of-year efforts.\n\"We've set this up purposely so if there is alignment, we can run this fast and get it through to the president's desk. We're not there yet, but that would be my desire,\" Fortenberry said.\nIn a bitter political climate, Quigley sees this legislation as a chance to show the American people that lawmakers can work together for the common good.\n\"It's hope for those who look at our country and see dysfunction but given an opportunity ... [will see] that we can accomplish something,\" he said.\nFor Mayuri, the bill's passage would be not only an accomplishment for the ALS community -- she believes it will give those trapped inside increasingly lifeless bodies the will to live.\n\"Other ALS patients come to me and ask whether it is worth fighting for their lives,\" she wrote, using a speech-generating device that operates with eye gaze technology, similar to the machine world-famous scientist Stephen Hawking used to speak. \"That answer depends on whether this bill gets passed or not.\"\nWith that in mind, her brother Mayank, advocate Michelle Lorenz and a team of grassroots groups have waged a tireless and highly organized campaign to raise awareness among congressional members and their constituents, including a letter-writing effort and website called HelpMayuri.com that helps mobilize supporters to email their local representatives. Lorenz has met with more than 200 legislators during the last five months and with 17 senators' offices this week.\n\"Death is not a partisan issue,\" she said.\"If you can agree on any bill, for God's sake, it should be this bill.\"\nIn the waning days of the lame duck session, Mayank is pleading with lawmakers to help his sister, who may die if action is put off until next year.\n\"She is my sister. She could also be your mother, who falls down the stairs. It could be your son who collapses on the soccer field,\" he said. \" If this were your loved one who was actively suffering and dying, and you knew there was a one percent chance of hope, what would you do to get that treatment in their dying bodies today?\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3CA67445-9096-4E70-8252-D71441EB6236", "Sasse Statement on Supreme Courts Religious Liberty Ruling", "2020-11-26", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Lincoln, NE --U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Courtruled in favorof Religious Liberty andagainstGovernor Andrew Cuomo.\r\n\"This Thanksgiving, Americans should be grateful for our First Amendment and for this straightforward ruling that simply affirms that government cannot disregard religious liberty in a crisis. The beating heart of America is the First Amendment, and this nasty virus won't change that. This is good news.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=65C97A67-9744-4F64-877C-FE672487C485", "Sasse Statement on Thanksgiving", "2020-11-26", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement.\r\n\"This has been a gut punch of a year, but even in the middle of this nasty virus America has much to be thankful for. Especially in times of struggle and anxiety, it's important to take stock of our blessings  after all, President Lincoln established a national day of Thanksgiving when the Civil War was in full swing. This year, in the face of real health and economic hardship, Americans are grateful for the workers who have kept shelves stocked and lines moving, grateful for the doctors and nurses who have cared for the sick, and grateful for the Americans who have done what Americans always do  lend their neighbors a helping hand. We are blessed to live here  in this free country with a Constitution that preserves liberty through upheaval  and now  in this time of unparalleled opportunity. Let's commit ourselves to the hard work of choosing gratitude over grievance and building stronger communities for our kids and grandkids. Melissa and I thank God for His continued providence, ask for His blessing on all those suffering and all those searching for a cure, and pray that He sheds His grace on our nation.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/let-s-keep-trade-rolling", "Lets Keep Trade Rolling", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Over the last four years, we have updated our trade relationships and trade agreements at a historic pace. We secured updated comprehensive trade agreements with Canada, Mexico, and South Korea; entered into Phase One agreements with China and Japan that address many significant impediments to U.S. exporters in these major markets; and achieved important progress to remove trade barriers faced by particular sectors in several other countries. Together, these nations purchase almost 50 percent of the United States' current exports. These agreements facilitated increased opportunities and fairer treatment for American producers and consumers struggling during the pandemic, and they are important platforms to open additional opportunities for U.S. exporters in the future. In part as a result of these agreements, we have seen exports increase 27 percent from the May low. While these agreements continue to bear fruit, it is vital we treat them as the first steps of a long journey toward more open markets and equitable treatment for U.S. goods and services, not an excuse to relax when there is so much more work to be done.\nWhile the President is empowered to conduct U.S. foreign policy and has been delegated authority to address some trade issues through executive action, our Constitution empowers Congress to write and pass trade policy. First on Congress' agenda must be reauthorizing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB)  two key programs which improve our competitiveness. Both programs will expire at the end of the year absent prompt action by Congress. Renewing these programs, which have enjoyed bipartisan support, will reduce costs and uncertainty for American businesses as they continue to grapple with the effects of COVID.\nGSP benefits all Americans by promoting economic growth in developing countries while also providing a tool for the U.S. to encourage good practices like protecting intellectual property, providing reasonable market access to U.S. exports, and treating U.S. investors fairly. Letting GSP lapse would raise the average tariff by 3.5 percent for small businesses in Nebraska while decreasing our leverage to ensure developing nations are raising standards and playing fairly in the global marketplace.\nMTB allows for a process to waive tariffs on inputs for domestic manufacturing which cannot be sourced domestically. This helps our manufacturers and promotes American competitiveness. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, renewal of a comprehensive MTB by the end of this year could eliminate more than $1.5 billion worth of tariffs on products not made or available in the U.S. That is money which U.S. manufacturers can invest in their facilities and workforce.\nWe also know American businesses and agriculture depend on foreign markets to grow. President Trump understands that and has made it a priority by negotiating and signing the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA), and Phase One deals with China and Japan. His administration also is making significant headway in comprehensive negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya, and has agreed to mini deals which address barriers we face in other markets. As a result, entire sectors of the U.S. economy, including agriculture, gained access to markets they had been barred from for years.\nThe significant progress we made in the past four years should be a blueprint for future trade opportunities that benefit American businesses, agriculture, and consumers. Moving forward, we need to continue the outstanding work President Trump and his administration have done on trade. We must take advantage of this momentum and not leave anything on the table. Through my position on the Ways and Means Committee, I will always continue searching for new markets for Nebraska products and pushing to reduce barriers our exporters face in foreign markets so U.S. farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and service providers can compete and win around the world.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/smith-announces-2020-congressional-app-challenge-winner", "Smith Announces 2020 Congressional App Challenge Winner", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) today announced the winner of the 2020 Congressional App Challenge for the Third District of Nebraska. The winning app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol and featured on www.House.Gov.  \n\t  \n\tThe winning app, titled Quick Mental Math, was created by Andy Vu, a junior at Kearney High School. According to Andy, he was inspired to create his app for his brother. During Coronavirus quarantine, he noticed his brother spending time learning math skills and using a lot of paper. He created Quick Mental Math to help his brother learn and do so through an environmentally friendly, convenient approach.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/smith-announces-winners-excellence-innovation-and-adaptation-recognition", "Smith Announces Winners of Excellence in Innovation and Adaptation Recognition", "2020-11-24", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) today honored nine individuals and businesses for receiving the Innovation and Adaptation Recognition. The award was created to acknowledge the contribution of individuals, organizations, and those who are working every day to improve and help their communities in the current environment.\nThe winners will be recognized by Smith before the U.S. House of Representatives.\nI'm proud to honor the recipients of the Innovation and Adaptation Recognition. Nebraskans know our communities grow when individuals step up: helping their neighbors, being involved, and creating opportunity, Smith said. To all Nebraskans who work tirelessly to create thriving communities, I will continue to support your efforts and pursue policies to get the federal government out of the way and empower your success.\nWinners  Billy Estes is the Executive Director of the Midwest Theater of Scottsbluff. Midwest Theater's programming, which includes live performances, orchestras, and concerts, makes an important contribution to the cultural and social experiences of Nebraska's panhandle. When the Coronavirus pandemic reached western Nebraska, under the guidance of Mr. Estes, the Midwest Theater partnered with the Legacy of the Plains Museum to create the Skyview Drive-in Movie Theater. As the pandemic progressed, this venture proved so popular they outgrew their location and had to move to larger accommodations. Thanks to the creativity and leadership of Mr. Estes, in spite of the pandemic, the Midwest Theater has continued to thrive throughout 2020.\nGrand Central Foods of York is owned by the Warren Thomas family. Mr. Thomas prides himself on his commitment to the York community. In \"normal\" times, Warren and the Grand Central Team are the first to ask where they can help with a project or how can they partner on events. The selflessness shown by everyone at Grand Central is a testament to the example of the ownership. Within a few days of the pandemic's arrival to York, Warren purchased a second grocery delivery van, and expanded his service to the entire community. Because Warren believes in positive reinforcement, he encouraged his customers to wear a mask while in his store by offering a 5 percent discount on their purchases. He is an active member of many community groups, and his passion and commitment to his community is unmatched.\nAlyssa Cochnar of Crete is a leader of Gold Star Martial Arts of Crete and Seward. At 26 years old, she is already a 5th degree black belt, chief instructor, and co-owner of the martial arts facility. When directed health measures forced Gold Star to close in-person training classes, she spearheaded the process of creating online modules for her students to continue their training independently. Before long, she began offering Zoom Classes to provide her students with another safe and flexible option to continue their training and explore expanded experiences to encourage healthy eating habits and socialization while social distancing. I commend her positive attitude and commitment to an enriching educational experience for all her students, regardless of their experience level.\nBryce Jensen is the Director of the World Theatre of Kearney. His adaptability, especially during the pandemic, demonstrates his commitment to his community. Though the organization he operates, the World Theatre, was closed due to the pandemic, his outside of the box thinking inspired him to create, through strategic community collaborations, a World Theatre drive-in. Not only would this ensure the World Theatre could still bring respite to many during these trying times, but it restored a drive-in movie experience to the Kearney region, reminding many of the happy memories of their youth.\nKirk Zeller grew up in the community of Ravenna, Nebraska. After high school, he attended university and later worked in the medical field in Japan. Kirk returned to the United States, first living in California before returning to his hometown of Ravenna to raise his family. Since returning to Ravenna he has turned the former Carnegie library into an entrepreneurship center, purchased a downtown building and renovated the upper story apartments, and recently directed a movie in Ravenna and Los Angeles which premiered at the Kearney World Theatre's drive-in, all while working on bringing new medical products to the market. He is a great story of returning to small hometown Nebraska and reinvesting in his community.\nDick Cochran of Kearney founded the nonprofit Hot Meals USA in October 2017. By February 2018, he signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Red Cross to call on him for assistance in wildfires, floods, tornadoes and other disasters. Every time Dick and Hot Meals USA are called upon, no less than 150 volunteers have supported the program. Since their inception, the policy has been to feed anyone, no questions asked. In just over three years, they have provided more than 155,000 meals across the country.\nJohn McCoy is the CEO of Orthman Manufacturing of Lexington. He embraced the opportunity to help feed families that come from a poverty background in the Lexington region. When he first brought in Hot Meals USA to the community, his business, Orthman Manufacturing, partnered with the Lexington Community Foundation and others to provide over 1,000 hot meals on a weekly basis to families. He then made feeding the community a priority as he and his employees took the lead to distribute USDA food boxes. When schools reopened in August, John was there for the community again. He donated 3,700 masks to Lexington Public Schools to make sure no student was unprepared for their school experience. John's actions represent his commitment to all members of the Lexington community.\nAnthony May of Hastings is an entrepreneur. When the pandemic forced the taproom of Steeple Brewery, which Anthony co-owns to close, he quickly responded. Collaborating with Wave Pizza Company, the brewery's restaurant partner, he developed a community delivery program, which eventually offered their products to 21 communities in south-central Nebraska. This innovative program ensured many Nebraskans, whose communities either do not have a grocery or now lacked a local place to eat due to the pandemic, had ready access to an easy-to-use food delivery program.\nMatt Dennis and Michael Stepp are more than small town business owners; they are master story tellers with a dream. What began as two friends making copper mugs in an old shop has turned into an opportunity to reshape the meaning of community. When they purchased the building they now call Handlebend, their goal was to create a community of small businesses under one roof and welcome the community with open arms to come and enjoy a mule, coffee, or gather and with friends and family. Though the Coronavirus pandemic has caused the Handlebend community to adapt their approach, the dreams of these men to create an innovative experience for the O'Neill community continue.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-viral-hope", "Fort Report: Viral Hope", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As our state and nation continue to fight through the global pandemic, we've received some good news. In the last two weeks, two pharmaceutical companies reported that their experimental vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection were roughly 90% (Pfizer) and 94% (Moderna) effective. In developing what is being called messenger RNA vaccines, the companies deployed the same novel approach: injecting a portion of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic code to generate antibodies and T-cells to fight off the virus.\nWhile each company's clinical trials are still ongoing, and more rigorous evaluations are forthcoming from the federal government, the breathtaking speed of the initiativedubbed Operation Warp Speed by the Department of Health and Human Serviceshas far surpassed the usual three-year window for vaccine development. While more needs to be done, including vigorous ongoing surveillance of adverse effects to ensure a high degree of product safety, this man-on-the-moon effort is impressive and unprecedented.\nIt did not happen by accident. In the Appropriations Committee on which I serve, we have worked to advance drug trials faster. For example, new generic drug approvals increased to 107 in 2019, up from 73 in 2016. The FDA has also enabled more creative non-placebo drug trial testing design, resulting in a near doubling of approval of novel therapies in the two-year period of 2017-2019 compared to the previous five.\nPart of our supplemental COVID funding in Congress included $20 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to stimulate investment in vaccine development. Under Operation Warp Speed, over $2.5 billion were directed to Moderna for research, testing, and to purchase over 100 hundred million doses of its vaccine. Robust federal support was also provided to eight other drug companies with vaccines in efficacy trials and thirty others in the early phases of human studies.\nDr. Keith Vrbicky, a Norfolk doctor, has been working on two vaccine trials right here in Nebraska. The new science of this vaccine appears to be highly effective and safe, he said. I had two patients who were pregnant at 18 and 26 weeks respectively who each became very sick from the virus. They were very healthy women, yet they were in the hospital. We still don't know what the long-term effects may be for their babies. Finding a vaccine is important. That's why I agreed to help do the research right here in Norfolk. In the Moderna trial, we randomized 300 patients 50-50 to a placebo or vaccine group. For the Pfizer trial, we did the same thing with 200 patients. We required weekly diaries and blood drawssome had a sore arm or a nighttime fever. These were among the worst side effects we saw. Not a single patient said they wished they had not entered the trial. Both vaccines were successful in stimulating antibodies for COVID at very high levels. Also, patients in the placebo arm were much more likely to be later diagnosed with COVID than those who got the vaccine. \nThis positive news on vaccines does not mean we are out of the corona woods yet. Final safety data, mass production of the vaccines, and transportation and distribution logistics are still being worked out. Additionally, researchers do not conclusively know how long the immunity provided by the vaccine lasts, let alone how much protection the vaccines provide to those most at risk of dying from COVID-19the elderly and non-elderly with major preexisting conditions. It is also not yet fully understood whether the vaccines simply prevent recipients from becoming dangerously sick or whether they also stop virus spread.\nStill, if all goes well, as many as 20 million Americansmostly first responders and front-line health workerscould get the vaccine by year's end. In the next phase of the rollout, in early 2021, about 40 million Americans, including the elderly and those with significant underlying health conditions, are expected to get the vaccine.\nWe are not home yet, but this viral hope signifies we are moving quickly towards a sense of normalcy. As with the Huskers first victory of the season, it puts us one step closer to order restored.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/fort-floor-week-washington", "FORT FROM THE FLOOR: The Week in Washington", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FORT FROM THE FLOOR: The Week in Washington", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/ketv-7-omaha-offutt-named-finalist-space-command-hq", "KETV-7 Omaha: Offutt Named Finalist for Space Command HQ", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "KETV-7 Omaha: Offutt Named Finalist for Space Command HQ", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/kmtv-3-omaha-offutt-named-finalist-space-command-hq", "KMTV-3 Omaha: Offutt Named Finalist for Space Command HQ", "2020-11-20", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "KMTV-3 Omaha: Offutt Named Finalist for Space Command HQ", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=E9DF7720-FDF0-4051-A7C3-4EB8A2EA1378", "Statement on Tyson Virus Betting Allegations", "2020-11-19", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse released the following statement after Tyson Foods suspended officials at an Iowa plant following allegations that plant managers bet on the number of workers that would be infected by Coronavirus.\r\n\"These are some horrific allegations, and Tyson is right to launch an investigation. There appears to be systemic and cultural failures that allowed mismanagement  and the virus  to run rampant. The hardworking men and women on these lines deserve better because they're doing work that literally helps feed the world.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-offutt-air-force-base-being-named-finalist-spacecom", "Fortenberry Statement on Offutt Air Force Base Being Named a Finalist for SPACECOM Headquarters", "2020-11-19", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WASHINGTON, DC) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) issued the following statement today after Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska was named one of six finalists to host United States Space Command Headquarters. We received some very exciting news today. Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue is one of six finalists to host United States Space Command Headquarters, Fortenberry said.\nOffutt is a critical piece of America's national security infrastructure and host to U.S. Strategic Command, the 55th Wing, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Space Command would be a natural complement to Offutt's existing missionto protect U.S. military assets, dominate the battlespace, and support our heroic war fighters, Fortenberry added. It is premature to know if Offutt will be ultimately chosen, but the consideration alone shows how important Offutt now is to our nation and the world, Fortenberry said. Audio of Fortenberry Statement:https://youtu.be/JyxQbPfddP8 Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=78CFB689-544F-4078-A5CC-676E6BC9A1EB", "Sasse Statement on Pfizer Vaccine", "2020-11-18", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement after Pfizer announced its vaccine is 95% effective in the final results of their study and they are moving to ask health regulators to authorize use.\n\"This is great news. The folks over at Pfizer have been working around the clock to develop this vaccine and they deserve our thanks and praise. American innovation and creativity are going to beat this nasty virus.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=FB956A7B-181C-419B-AFB4-A2E986F08397", "Sasse Statement on Retreat from Middle East", "2020-11-17", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after it was reported that the U.S. is withdrawing thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.\"Headlines about bringing the boys home' sound good, but that's not what's happening. After this retreat, there will still be American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most important question is whether those remaining troops will be able to prevent al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Iranian proxies, and others from plotting attacks that can spill American blood, or if they will be exposed as jihadis gain ground. Terrorists will exploit vacuums  President Obama's 2011 withdrawal from Iraq opened the door for ISIS. I fear this weak retreat is not grounded in reality and will make the world a more dangerous place.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/small-business-and-community-roundtables-recap", "Small Business and Community Roundtables Recap", "2020-11-16", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "While votes are still being counted and recounted, there are other things we must focus on as well  like getting our economy back on track. Through the use of tools like Zoom, I am able to meet with Nebraskans about our economy without skipping a beat.\nMany of my meetings center on our local economy. I enjoy hearing and speaking with organizations such as Hayes County Economic Development and Chambers of Commerce for North Platte, Dundy, and the State of Nebraska. In addition, it was great to hear from the Nebraska Farm Bureau about the harvest concluding successfully. Each meeting brings a different perspective and new ideas.\nThis week, I hosted a series of Small Business & Community Roundtables to talk with small business owners directly. In each session, special guests, including hospitals CEOs, Third District entrepreneurs, economic development leaders, and local, state, and administration officials, shared effective approaches to grow and strengthen small businesses during the pandemic. A consensus view of the sessions was safely keeping our economy going and adapting to the current environment while taking steps to fight the virus.\nI particularly appreciated hearing from panelists like Janell Anderson Ehrke, of GROW Nebraska, about the focus they have put on helping more businesses go digital by creating a web presence to market and sell their products online as COVID has accelerated existing online selling trends. In the face of the challenges such as reduced foot traffic and less demand for certain products, Nebraskans have been hard at work finding solutions. Andrew Vrbas, Co-founder of Hastings-based Pacha Soap, saw the pandemic and its shutdowns as a major obstacle to his wholesale and retail business. Pacha Soap then pivoted to making hand sanitizer and other products they will now sell long-term.\nDespite disruptions to travel, we should not lose sight of the importance of exporting Nebraska products to consumers around the world as well. In the final session of my roundtable series we heard from Ted McKinney, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Services, about the importance of international trade during this time. By expanding opportunities, we can improve our economy by selling great Nebraska products to new markets. The administration has been in overdrive on trade since its existence and we have seen unprecedented results. By keeping this pace, we will be able to exceed all expectations and recover the economy we were seeing before COVID. Online meeting technology can also improve our ability to sell internationally more efficiently.\nI thoroughly enjoyed listening to the unique points of view from each of the panelists during the roundtables, and the feedback we got from those watching the sessions. Although we have important issues we are dealing with as a nation, it is our small businesses and communities who move us forward. Thank you to everyone who participated and I look forward to hearing from you again soon!\nTo view a recording of any sessions from this week, please visit my YouTube Channel here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=1935FC26-FDD1-4FF1-ACDF-43B9FA98FEC5", "Sasse Statement on Vaccine Cyber Attacks", "2020-11-13", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after three actors from Russia and North Korea continually attempt to disrupt the development of a COVID-19 vaccination throughrepeated cyber-attacks.\n\"The future of war is no longer solely physical combat  it will also be in cyberspace. We cannot mistake that these cyber-attacks are an act of aggression towards the United States and the greater health of our citizens and economy. These Russian and North Korean actors are attempting to steal American IP and delay vaccine development. The folks in the private sector are doing a great job exposing and combatting these malicious attacks, and our government must find better ways to leverage this kind private sector work and bring our cyber defenses into the future.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-talk-veteran", "Fort Report: Talk to a Veteran", "2020-11-13", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In December of 1944, it was thought that WWII may be beginning to near its end. Through a surprise offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge, the German army shattered the illusion. The 40-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the war for U.S. troops; over 19,000 Americans lost their lives in the bitter, winter cold. On the 75th anniversary of the battle I was asked by the Speaker of the House, along with a small congressional delegation, to honor our remaining veterans and participate in remembrance ceremonies in Bastogne, Belgium. A cold, misty rain blanketed the landscape at the battle site made famous by the Band of Brothers. I stood next to a very old veteran as we quietly peered into the remnants of a fox hole. He kept whispering through his tears, nineteen years old, nineteen years old...\" Here's why I'm relating this story: -If you are starting to feel overwhelmed by our nation's struggles, talk to a veteran. -If you see our policy battles as impossible to solve, talk to a veteran. -If you want to reconnect with those things that bind us, talk to a veteran.  We live in an age of fearful urgency. As social media continues to find its way deeper into the fabric of our lives, it attempts to convince us that every bit of information coming our way requires our immediate attention. For the first time in history, a constantly updated news cycle is at our fingertips. While it has always been the goal of the media to capture a larger share of audience attention, the tools needed to accomplish this task are much more pervasive in our personal lives. Every communication coming our way is vying for our direct attention in an over-saturated market of tweets, breaking news stories, and commentary. In this environment, fear can easily become ever-present in our local and national conversations driving us to places of anxiety, alienation, and mistrust of one another. I find that when I spend meaningful time around those who have served in our military, the noise fades, and a right perspective returns to my spirit. I am reminded of the greater ideal of self-sacrifice and I am drawn into unity with other Americans by connecting with those who selflessly and dutifully served simply because it wasnoble and good. Given the pandemic and the post-election dynamics, this year Veteran's Day passed without our nation's fuller focus. This quieter remembrance does not diminish the gift their sacrifice has given us. If the noise becomes too loud, talk to a veteran.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=AC28C876-E0D9-4CCD-876E-B35C17501521", "Sasse Statement on DOJs Epstein Investigation", "2020-11-12", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\"Americans ought to be enraged.\" \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee, issued the following statement regarding the completion of the Department of Justice's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's sweetheart deal. The investigation merely concluded that U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta exercised poor judgment.\"\n\"Letting a well-connected billionaire get away with child rape and international sex trafficking isn't poor judgment'  it is a disgusting failure. Americans ought to be enraged. Jeffrey Epstein should be rotting behind bars today, but the Justice Department failed Epstein's victims at every turn. The DOJ's crooked deal with Epstein effectively shut down investigations into his child sex trafficking ring and protected his co-conspirators in other states. Justice has not been served. The full report needs to be released to the public. OPR might have finished its report, but we have an obligation to make sure this never happens again.\"\nBackground:\nSince 2018, Sasse has repeatedly pushed the DOJ toinvestigatethe sweetheart deal that Epstein received.\nIn February 2019, at Sasse's insistence, the Department of Justiceopenedan investigation into its handling of Epstein.\nOnJanuary 15, 2019, during his confirmation hearing, William Barr, the President's nominee for Attorney General, publicly committed to making sure that the DOJ responded to Senator Sasse's questions into the Epstein case and that they would prioritize the prosecution of sex-trafficking.\nOn August 10, the day of Epstein's death, Sasse wrote to Attorney General Barrdemandingthat heads must roll and asking transparency questions to make sure DOJ answers for the miscarriage of justice.\nOn November 11, 2019, Sassedenouncedthe Bureau of Prisons' refusal to provide public answers about the events surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=3989A0D1-87F1-4C72-98E7-662AB0CB9E7B", "Sasse Statement on Death of Hong Kongs Legislature", "2020-11-11", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers were disqualified from holding office shortly after Beijing passed a bill that allowed Hong Kong's government to unseat elected politicians deemed a threat to China's national security.\n\"Chairman Xi's reign of terror in Hong Kong has now gutted the remnant of the city's elected democratic opposition. Xi cannot tolerate a political system in Hong Kong that is anything less than an unblemished rubber stamp for his despotic policies. Those continuing to fight for democracy in Hong Kong should know the free world stands with them.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=EF19037D-C996-4B8F-B294-66E958F5F717", "Sasse Statement on Veterans Day", "2020-11-11", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement in observance of Veterans Day.\n\"The safety and freedom we enjoy are not guaranteed. Brave Americans fight day in and day out to protect and defend our country. These men and women, and their families, make great sacrifices so we live freely. Our service members and their families ought to be celebrated today and every day for their heroic work.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=D150B792-4871-42E7-BAD9-479F7F21CAAB", "Sasse Statement on Vaccine and Cuomo", "2020-11-09", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement regarding the good news that Pfizer announced a possible coronavirus vaccine and the bad news that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo immediately politicized it.\nWhat on earth is Governor Cuomo talking about? This is great news and everyone - Republicans and Democrats and apolitical folks - should all be jointly thrilled about the possibility of an effective vaccine. After this nasty virus has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and put millions out of work, it is beyond disgusting that Governor Cuomo would use a glimmer of hope for another worn-out Trump is bad' talking point. When we get a vaccine, we're going to need all hands on deck distributing it as fast as possible - shamelessly politicizing this is dangerous and stupid.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/remembering-and-assisting-our-veterans", "Remembering and Assisting our Veterans", "2020-11-06", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "After a contentious election, it is important we come back together and take stock of the unifying values and liberties which make our country great. While we have been endowed by our Creator with the freedom to self-govern, which we exercise through free and democratic elections, this freedom has endured because of the sacrifices of our veterans, as well as the men and women currently serving in our military who put their lives on the line so that we may enjoy these rights. Each year on November 11, the anniversary of the armistice ending World War I, we observe Veterans Day to commemorate our men and women who fought for us to have this freedom. It is up to us to show our veterans the respect and admiration they deserve, and to remember their legacy and give them the appreciation and the resources they need.\nThis year is the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. With each passing year, fewer members of our greatest generation remain with us to be honored for their roles in defeating fascism and ending the Holocaust. Only 300,000 World War II veterans remain with us today. This sobering fact makes it all the more important to learn from them and hear their stories. On Veterans Day in 1985, President Reagan said, all we can ever do for our heroes is remember them and remember what they did. We should all try to heed these powerful words and their message.\nIn September, I hosted a Virtual Veterans History Project Training for constituents interested in volunteering to interview and record veterans' stories for the Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress. It is so critical to remember our veterans, take their lessons, and learn from their courage. I encourage all those interested in participating in the VHP to visit the Library of Congress' website at: https://www.loc.gov/vets/\nIn addition to remembering the deeds of our veterans, it is also important we continue providing support for those who need our help. Today, there are 150,000 veterans who live in Nebraska and are vital members of our community. There are also 17,000 veteran-owned businesses in Nebraska, however, the veteran unemployment rate is historically higher than the rest of the population. We must do more. Fortunately, there are resources available specifically for veterans. If you are a veteran who owns a small business or is interested in starting one, be sure to check out SBA's website, who may be able to offer some assistance: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/grow-your-business/veteran-owned-businesses\nMy office also offers assistance for veterans who may be having issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Please do not hesitate to contact my Grand Island office if you need help.\nOur veterans have already given us so much; it is our turn to show our appreciation. Be sure to thank a veteran not only on November 11th, but always. To every veteran  we appreciate your sacrifice and God bless America!", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/small-business-community-roundtables", "Small Business & Community Roundtables", "2020-11-04", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Small businesses are staples of our communities and the backbone of rural America. However, small businesses have also taken the hardest hit from COVID's impact and we must continue doing all we can to help them as we continue to fight this disease. In order to hear from small businesses directly while providing the latest in innovative ideas, I will be hosting a series of Small Business & Community Roundtables on November 9, 10, 12, and 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST).\nBefore the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy was at record highs, and businesses small and large were prospering. Now, due to unforeseen circumstances, our communities are faced with significant obstacles, but we know it will be our small businesses which bring us back. Efforts such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)  created by the CARES Act have saved over 51 million jobs, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).\nWhile programs such as the PPP have been able to help many small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic, it is the knowledge and hard work of our employers and workforce which have made a huge difference in our economic comeback and our communities. In order to help small business owners further, the four panels will focus on issues I deal with daily in my work on the Ways and Means Committee  health, creating opportunities for economic growth, and trade. Here is a list of the dates, times, topics, and special guests:\nCreating a Healthy Community Roundtable\n Monday, November 9\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests:Michelle Wineinger, Representative, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); Leslie Marsh, CEO, Lexington Regional Health Center; Jim Ulrich, CEO, York General Health Care Services\n Growing a Small Business Roundtable\n Tuesday, November 10\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests:Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City-Omaha Branch; Janell Anderson Ehrke, CEO, GROW Nebraska Foundation; Andrew Vrbas, CEO, Pacha Soap; Kevin Griffith, CEO, Amplifi Capital\n Developing Your Local Economy and Workforce Roundtable\n Thursday, November 12\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests:Leon Milobar, Nebraska District Director, Small Business Administration; Starr Lehl, Economic Development Director, City of Scottsbluff; Oscar Gomez, Assistant City Administrator, City of South Sioux City\n Innovating Opportunity Through Trade Roundtable\n Friday, November 13\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests:The Honorable Ted McKinney, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Services; Norm Krug, Founder/CEO, Preferred Popcorn; Kirk Zeller, DBA, Founder, Silicon Prairie Center\n In order to provide these panels in a safe, socially-distanced format, they will be held online. To participate constituents must pre-register for each individual session through links available athttp://adriansmith.house.gov/SBCRoundtable2020.\nI am confident that if we open up our economy safely and securely, we will be able to bring it back to where it was before the pandemic. Individuals like you have important ideas worth sharing and I ask that you please join me at our Small Business & Community Roundtables. I look forward to hearing from you!", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-epa-reapproval-herbicide-dicamba", "Fortenberry Statement on EPA Reapproval of the Herbicide Dicamba", "2020-11-02", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) issued the following statement today after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reapproved use of the herbicide dicamba by America's ag producers.\nWe have been working on a resolution to dicamba for farmers for many months now. I am pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency has reached a reasonable conclusion, Fortenberry said.\nEarlier this year, I worked with the EPA Administrator, the Secretary of Agriculture, and several bipartisan colleagues to ensure that ag producers who had purchased dicamba could continue using it through the end of July. This week, the EPA announced a five-year registration for use of the herbicide starting in 2021, Fortenberry added.\nI am pleased that farmers will now have certainty as they begin making their planting decisions for the coming year, Fortenberry said.\n  Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   \n\t\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-house-and-senate-reintroduction-his-accelerating-access", "Fortenberry Statement on House and Senate Reintroduction of His Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act (ACT for ALS)", "2020-11-02", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WASHINGTON, DC)Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) offered the following statement upon the reintroduction of an updated version of ACT for ALS, Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, in the United States House and Senate.\nThe two new pieces of legislationH.R.8662 in the House and S.4867 in the Senatecreates new pathways for faster and broader access to therapies for those most in need, including those facing a fatal disease like ALS.\nThis new legislation represents a monumental shift for those suffering from ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.It breaks the paradigm of disease research and creates a new pathway to deliver promising treatments.With this new law, we can break through faster for those who have suffered so much, Fortenberry said.\nThe revised ACT for ALS addresses several challenges associated with ALS therapeutic development. First, ALS clinical trials do not always employ expanded access programs that facilitate access to experimental treatments outside of the trial. This legislation tackles the financial barrier for therapies being tested from small biopharmaceutical companies by creating a grant program that funds access to investigational ALS treatments to patients not participating in the clinical trial. Additionally, the grant will fund a research project as part of providing expanded access to people living with ALS, adding to the understanding of how treatments impact the disease.\nThe revised legislation also invests in neurodegenerative disease research through a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Rare Neurodegenerative Disease Grant Program. With this investment, Congress prioritizes making progress in the development of treatments and cures for ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases.\nFinally, ACT for ALS would establish an HHS Collaborative for Neurodegenerative Diseases jointly led by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the first federal effort explicitly charged with the responsibility to speed the development and approval of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. This collaborative is charged with coordinating efforts across the public and private sector to accelerate therapeutic development and regulatory review of treatments and cures for ALS and neurodegenerative diseases, including:\n Coordination among the centers of the Food and Drug Administration to achieve the goals specified in the draft guidance entitled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Developing Drugs for Treatment Guidance for Industry,'' published in September 2019;\n\tFacilitation of access to investigational drugs for ALS;\n\tDefinition or development of the regulatory and translational pathway for emerging therapeutic categories; and\n\tDevelopment and implementation of an ongoing mechanism to share feedback and information and develop strategies with the neurodegenerative disease community, including patients, treating physicians, national organizations that facilitate provision of care services, access and research, researchers, drug sponsors, drug manufacturers and Federal agencies.\n The bills have the full support and coordination of three leading ALS organizations in I AM ALS, The ALS Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The revised ACT for ALS addresses several challenges associated with ALS therapeutic development.\nLink to House Bill: https://bit.ly/37POqlG\nLink to Senate Bill: https://bit.ly/34GW6ou\nCongressman Jeff Fortenberry is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=1B0088B5-7697-4CA9-A74A-DF17C9B22846", "Sasse Statement on American Hostage Rescue in Nigeria", "2020-10-31", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after U.S. intelligence and military forces rescued an American citizen abducted last week in Niger. No U.S. military personnel were injured during the mission.\"This is the type of stuff that makes America's military a force for good around the world. The men and women who helped plan and execute this rescue mission are heroes, and we are grateful their work to free an American citizen.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/smith-s-bill-protecting-seniors-included-package-fighting-covid-19", "Smiths Bill Protecting Seniors Included in Package Fighting COVID-19", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement after his bill, the Reducing Unnecessary Senior Hospitalization (RUSH) Act, was included in the Commitment to Defeat the Virus and Keep America Healthy Act (H.R. 14), a package of bipartisan provisions designed to aid Americans in addressing the impact of COVID-19 by promoting policies which incentivize innovation and supports healthy workplaces.\nThe RUSH Act, introduced by Smith in March, brings much needed technological innovation to Medicare through expanded access to telehealth. The transfer of a skilled nursing facility resident to the emergency room has always been complicated and expensive, carrying serious risks to patients already dealing with complex health needs. The COVID pandemic dramatically increased this risk as a trip to the hospital now also carries a serious risk of COVID exposure and subsequent infection.\nThis language pairs telehealth technologies with trained onsite providers in skilled nursing facilities to safely treat certain patients in place, such as those experiencing falls, delirium, infections, or adverse medication interaction, rather than transferring them to a hospital. In addition to reducing the risk of COVID exposure, treatment in place can provide for quicker diagnoses and treatment and avoids costly ambulance trips.\nDuring COVID, seniors have taken extra steps to protect themselves and their loved ones. Avoiding unnecessary trips and allowing them to be treated in place will help tremendously. I am grateful this critical language to protect our seniors has been included in this package.\nSmith is a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over both the RUSH Act and H.R. 14.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-beer-and-axes", "Fort Report: Beer and Axes", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/SBCRoundtable2020", "Smith to Hold Virtual Small Business and Community Roundtable Series", "2020-10-29", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) will host aVirtual Small Business and Community Roundtable Series, with online sessions each morning on November 9, 10, 12, and 13. Those interested in attending must pre-register for each session individually at the links provided below.\nThe Virtual Small Business and Community Roundtable Seriesprovides Third District constituents an opportunity to hear from Smith and his special guests discuss the latest in innovative small business ideas and policy and share your thoughts during the discussion opportunity.\nIn addition to Smith, officials such as USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Ag. Services Ted McKinney, SBA District Director Leon Milobar, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Senior Community Development Advisor Dell Gines, and a represntative of CMS - Kansas City will join in the discussion on the following dates.  \n\t\nCreating a Healthy Community Roundtable\nGrowing a Small Business Roundtable\n Tuesday, November 10\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests: Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advsior, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Janell Anderson-Ehrke, CEO of the GROW Nebraska Foundation, Andrew Vrbas, CEO of Pacha Soap, Kevin Griffith, CEO of Amplifi Capital\n\tRegistration link:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AkYACu_oTZOOjxD92FZdkw\n Developing Your Local Economy and Workforce Roundtable\n Thursday, November 12\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests:Leon Milobar, Small Business Administration District Director, Starr Lehl, Development Director for the City of Scottsbluff, Oscar Gomez, Assistant City Administrator & Economic Development Director for South Sioux City\n\tRegistration link:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h-b_s38BQhSu8XBYQrYZzw\n Innovating Opportunity Through Trade Roundtable\n Friday, November 13\n\t8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (CST) / 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (MST)\n\tSpecial Guests: USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Ag Services Ted McKinney, Norm Krug, Founder and CEO of Preferred Popcorn, Kirk Zeller, DBA, Founder of the Silicon Prairie Center\n\tRegistration link:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R_kwq7JfRuWiFuKRQVSlfg\n For more information about these events, please contact Smith's Grand Island office at (308) 384-3900.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-and-senate-introduce-accelerating-access-critical-therapies-als-act-act", "House and Senate introduce Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act (ACT for ALS)", "2020-10-29", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(WASHINGTON, DC)Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)introduced an updated version of ACT for ALS,Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act,in the United States House and Senate. The two new pieces of legislation,H.R.8662in the House andS.4867in the Senate, create new pathways for faster and broader access to therapies for those most in need, including those facing a fatal disease like ALS. \"This new legislation represents a monumental shift for those suffering from ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.It breaks the paradigm of disease research and creates a new pathway to deliver promising treatments.With this new law, we can break through faster for those who have suffered so much,said Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. \"We must do all we can to support thetens of thousandsof Americansimpacted byALS, aterrible diseasewithout a cure. TheACTfor ALS will expand early treatment options and support the cutting-edge research needed to improve quality of life and find a cure. Weshouldtake steps to facilitate access to new therapies, drug treatments, and medical breakthroughsto aid Americans who sufferfromALS orotherforms of neurodegenerative disease,said Senator Chris Coons, co-chair of the Senate ALS Caucus. \"For too long, ALS and diseases like it have gone under researched and under resourced at the federal level. That changes today. The new ACT for ALS bill is the product of intense engagement over many months and is our best opportunity in decades to disrupt the status quo, move the ball forward, and expedite treatment options for those living with terminal illnesses like ALS. I've been so proud to work alongside a diverse group of stakeholderspatients, advocates, scientists, researchers and doctors, both in and outside of government to produce a bold, bipartisan piece of legislation that offers new hope to those suffering from ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases with few treatments and no cures. I want to thank my partner in this effort, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, and all those who worked with us to improve this legislation, and I am honored to give voice to the ALS patient community, without whom this effort would simply not be possible,said Congressman Mike Quigley. For years I've been working with the ALS community to help increase research opportunities and ensure those living with this deadly disease have the support they need. We've made progress, but even with promising treatments in clinical trials, patients unable to enroll in those research studies unfortunately have very few options for treatment. Through a new pilot grant program, as well as other additional funding, this bipartisan legislation will help address barriers to utilizing the current expanded access pathway, while also broadly supporting the development of ALS treatments. As someone whose family has been personally impacted by ALS, I'm proud to help Senator Coons lead this effort,said Senator Lisa Murkowski. The revised ACT for ALS addresses several challenges associated with ALS therapeutic development.First, ALS clinical trials do not always employ expanded access programs that facilitate access to experimental treatments outside of the trial. This legislation tackles the financial barrier for therapies being tested from small biopharmaceutical companies by creating a grant program that funds access to investigational ALS treatments to patients not participating in the clinical trial. Additionally, the grant will fund a research project as part of providing expanded access to people living with ALS, adding to the understanding of how treatments impact the disease. The revised legislation also invests in neurodegenerative disease research through a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Rare Neurodegenerative Disease Grant Program. With this investment, Congress prioritizes making progress in the development of treatments and cures for ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, ACT for ALS would establish an HHS Collaborative for Neurodegenerative Diseases jointly led by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the first federal effort explicitly charged with the responsibility to speed the development and approval of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. This collaborative is charged with coordinating efforts across the public and private sector to accelerate therapeutic development and regulatory review of treatments and cures for ALS and neurodegenerative diseases, including:\nCoordination among the centers of the Food and Drug Administration to achieve the goals specified in the draft guidance entitled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Developing Drugs for Treatment Guidance for Industry,'' published in September 2019;\nFacilitation of access to investigational drugs for ALS;\nDefinition or development of the regulatory and translational pathway for emerging therapeutic categories; and\nDevelopment and implementation of an ongoing mechanism to share feedback and information and develop strategies with the neurodegenerative disease community, including patients, treating physicians, national organizations that facilitate provision of care services, access and research, researchers, drug sponsors, drug manufacturers and Federal agencies. The bills have the full support and coordination of three leading ALS organizations in I AM ALS, The ALS Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The revised ACT for ALS addresses several challenges associated with ALS therapeutic development. We made a commitment at the start of 2020 to firmly stand behind this legislation and the drive to make it a reality for ALS patients waiting for critical, needed treatments. This bill will provide additional opportunities to access promising ALS therapies and create a collaborative focused squarely on expediting development and approval of new ALS treatments and cures. We now look forward to working with the community and Congressional leaders to take one more step toward changing the course of history as we end ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases,I AM ALS CEO Danielle Carnival, PhD.,said. \"The strengthenedAccelerating Access to Critical Therapies (ACT) for ALS Actcould betransformativefor the ALS community. It will help provide effective treatments for everyone living with ALS today, and expanded access to experimental ones. Itcreates thefirst federalentityexplicitlychargedwith finding effective treatments for ALS as quickly as possible. We thank Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE),Mike Quigley (D-IL)and Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and LisaMurkowski (R-AK)for introducing this bill to meet these goals,stated Neil Thakur, Ph.D., The ALS Association Chief Mission Officer. \"The introduction of a strengthened ACT for ALS represents a substantial step forward in the effort to bring safe, effective, and innovative new treatments to the ALS community. We are proud to endorse this bill, and in coordination with the ALS patient community, we call on Congress to pass this legislation as soon as possible,saidKristin Stephenson, EVP, Chief Advocacy and Care Services Officer, Muscular Dystrophy Association. Link to House Bill:https://bit.ly/37POqlG Link to Senate Bill:https://bit.ly/34GW6ou Congressman Jeff Fortenberry is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration. Senator Chris Coons is the founder and co-chair of the Senate ALS Caucus and a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Congressman Mike Quigley is Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. Senator Lisa Murkowski is one of the original members of the Senate ALS Caucus, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=577B8056-2241-405F-9700-46CA3EAA5CC8", "Sasse Statement on DOJs Case Against CCP Thugs", "2020-10-28", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement regarding eight individuals charged with conspiring to act as illegal agents to harass, stalk, and coerce certain residents of the United States to return to China.\"Here's what paranoid totalitarianism looks like: Chairman Xi is so terrified that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom here in the United States that he sends repatriation squads trying to coerce them back to China. The Chinese Communist Party's goons should be thrown behind bars. The Department of Justice is doing good work. Americans have to hold the line against Chinese aggression.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/investing-sound-infrastructure", "Investing in Sound Infrastructure", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "October marks the middle of harvest season for crops like corn, soybeans, and sorghum here in Nebraska. This process, the culmination of many months of work, also highlights how we rely on infrastructure for irrigation, transportation, and bringing products to market. Infrastructure has a hand in just about everything we do, including making agriculture more efficient. By prioritizing rural infrastructure, we lay a foundation for national economic growth.\nWhile there is much work to be done, I am grateful for the improvements made to federal regulatory policy by the Trump administration. In many cases this meant taking a look at existing regulations, determining which ones are harmful, and fixing or eliminating them. The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) is a perfect example. This arbitrary, misguided Obama-era regulation gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) power over virtually all water flows  even on private land. This regulation also directly contradicted the law; under the Clean Water Act non-navigable waters are regulated by the states. I led the effort in the House to fight WOTUS when it was forced on farmers, ranchers, and local communities by President Obama. I was grateful to see President Trump listen to ag producers and local officials when he reversed the WOTUS rule. However, there are still plenty more rules like WOTUS on the books which stand in the way of successful agriculture.\nIn addition to simplifying regulations, we must continue to invest in sound projects to improve our aging infrastructure system. In Nebraska, we know too well the vulnerability of our levees, especially on the Missouri River. In the last ten years alone, two historic floods have caused unimaginable damage to surrounding areas. In the House-passed Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), I secured language to assist communities like Peru, Nebraska, which were deemed ineligible for federal aid due to Army Corps of Engineers regulations, and also establish a study program to improve flood prevention on the Missouri River.\nThe U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) also recognizes how maintaining and improving Nebraska infrastructure is beneficial to our nation as a whole. In the past year, Nebraska has received significant grants for the water system in Crawford, flood resistance in Jefferson County, and stormwater infrastructure improvements in Valentine among others. Investments such as these improve not only the local areas, but our great state as a whole.\nInfrastructure should be an area for strong bipartisan agreement. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi brought to the House floor in July a partisan package which was focused far more on regulating the environment and labor markets than freeing funds to more efficiently upgrade our infrastructure.\nOur jobs, state's economy, and daily lives all rely on sound infrastructure. I will continue to look for opportunities to invest in our state, ease the burdens of regulations, and fight for agriculture to be included in any larger package.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/rural-radio-fortenberry-visits-fiber-mill-stromsburg-and-speaks-its-role-growing-ag", "Rural Radio: Fortenberry Visits Fiber Mill in Stromsburg and Speaks to Its Role in Growing Ag Family", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rural Radio: Fortenberry Visits Fiber Mill in Stromsburg and Speaks to Its Role in Growing Ag Family", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=152D4E32-C350-43BF-AEB4-1320AD3AD2CE", "Sasse to Senate Democrats: You Lost This Vote. Dont Burn Down The Senate.\"", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\"I don't want to cross Cocaine Mitch ... but the Senator most responsible for the fact that Amy Coney Barrett is going to be confirmed tonight... is Harry Reid.\" \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVideo of the Senator's speech is availablehereor by clicking the image above.\r\n\r\nU.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor this morning about Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation and the upcoming fight over the Senate's filibuster.\nExcerpts below.\nOn Judge Barrett:\nShe is an unparalleled nominee and will be a dazzling originalist on the Supreme Court. None of the baseless allegations that have been leveled against Judge Barrett have swayed any votes. Democrats didn't lay a glove on Judge Barrett in her confirmation hearings and I think she ran circles around politicians who want to outsource lawmaking to unelected judges.\"\nOn Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's scapegoating of Ranking Member Diane Feinstein:\n\"The Minority Leader seems that he's decided to make Dianne Feinstein a scapegoat for the unforgivable sin of being unwilling to turn more of Judge Barrett's hearings into anotherMichael Avenatti clown show. And I think that's just a painful moment in this institution's history, and it speaks volumes about how low some people are willing to seek sink in response to outside activists who would like to see bare knuckle politics be the only thing that happens in the Senate.\"\nOn repetitive and dishonest talking points about healthcare:\n\"I've heard now I think four speeches in a row implying that when Judge Barrett becomes Justice Barrett later tonight, that obviously means the end of health care in America. The last speech actually included this phrase, A vote for Amy Barrett is a vote to end health care. The speech said A vote for Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to end health care. That isn't just preposterous, it is so destructive of the public good and of public trust... Please have the courage to come back next April, May and June and say you lied to the American people. You were just trying to scare them into voting and say what you were saying was B.S. Whoever writes these outside talking points - it's really destructive and the Senators know better than to parrot this pap.\"\nOn the MVP of the Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh confirmations:\n\"I don't want to cross Cocaine Mitch, the gentleman from Kentucky, but the truth of the matter is the Senator most responsible for the confirmation proceedings we have happening on the floor today is not from Kentucky.The Senator most responsible for the fact that Amy Coney Barrett's gonna be confirmed tonight, the Senator most responsible for the confirmations of Neil Gorusch and Brett Kavanaugh, is the former Democratic leader from Nevada,Senator Harry Reid.It was Senator Harry Reid that blew up the filibuster for judicial appointments in November of 2013, and the rest of how we got here is just a footnote on that history.\"\nOn the importance of the legislative filibuster:\n...House and Senate are supposed to be different kinds of bodies. We have different purposes and so my argument to Democrats now or in January is the same as the argument I made to Republicans in January of 2017, and, that is that blowing up the filibuster would be to functionally kill the Senate. It would dramatically change not just this institution, but the structure of governance in our republic.  The House and the Senate are supposed to have different complimentary functions and if we kill the filibuster in the Senate, we will have simple 51-49 votes, radically changing the direction of the country. We would seegovernmentswings on a pendulum where big chunks of American life could be re-written every two years with simple 51-49 or 49-51 majority changes and therefore new majority votes. We would become more like aparliamentaryEuropean system\"\nOn then-Senator Obama's defense of the Senate:\n\"I understand that a junior Republican Senator from Nebraska doesn't have a lot of sway in the Democratic conference, but maybe they would listen to the quote of a different, more influential Senator If the right of free and open debate is taken away from the minority party and the millions of Americans who ask us to be their voice, then I fear that the partisan atmosphere in Washington will be poisoned to the point where no one will be able to agree on anything. That does not serve anybody's interests, and it certainly is not what the patriots who founded this democracy had in mind. We owe the people who sent us here more than that.We owe them much, much more.'  That quote was from the junior Senator from Illinois in 2005, Senator Barack Obama, speaking passionately to this body about why it was different, why it is different and why we have a stewardship obligation to defend the deliberative structure of the Senate.\nFull text of Senator Sasse's remarks is found below.\r\nSenators have worked through the weekend and the clock is obviously winding down later today and tonight after a final confirmation vote, Judge Amy Coney Barrett is going to become Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And for those of us who've been advocating for her - in my case that's been since the summer of 2017 - that is welcome news. She is an unparalleled nominee and will be a dazzling originalist on the Supreme Court. None of the baseless allegations that have been leveled against Judge Barrett have swayed any votes. Democrats didn't lay a glove on Judge Barrett in her confirmation hearings and I think she ran circles around politicians who want to outsource lawmaking to unelected judges.\nSome folks are upset about that, and even though many of my male colleagues on the Judiciary Committee also complimented the Judiciary Committee Chairman on a very well-run hearing, tragically, the Minority Leader seems that he's decided to make Dianne Feinstein a scapegoat for the unforgivable sin of being unwilling to turn more of Judge Barrett's hearings into anotherMichael Avenatti clown show. And, I think that's just a painful moment in this institution's history, and it speaks volumes about how low some people are willing to seek sink in response to outside activists who would like to see bare knuckle politics be the only thing that happens in the Senate.\nJudge Barrett's opponents know that they don't have the votes. They know that they don't actually have public support.\nThey've seen the polling rise steadily week after week after week over the last month as the American public has gotten to know Judge Barrett better and learn more about her, they're more and more comfortable with her and less and less open to some of the sort of hyperbolic rhetoric that we've seen levied leveled against her.\nThis is actually my fourth consecutive hour on the floor this morning. I've heard a series of speeches and one of the things that's obvious is that there are a whole bunch of phrases that were written up - I don't know who wrote them up.I don't know how this process happens. But, speech after speech after speech uses really similar phrasing to try to alarm and disturb and unsettle the American people and I think this cynicism is just really tragic.\nI've heard now I think four speeches in a row implying that when Judge Barrett becomes Justice Barrett later tonight, that obviously means the end of health care in America. The last speech actually included this phrase, A vote for Amy Barrett is a vote to end health care. The speech said, A vote for Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to end health care. That isn't just preposterous, it is so destructive of the public good and of public trust, and I don't want this body to continue its decline, but I hope that next April, May, or June when the Supreme Court rules and when Obamacare doesn't die as no expert thinks this case is actually going to do. There is no court watchers who really believe that the Supreme Court is going to end Obamacare this year. severability is a pretty important legal concept that those of us who serve as public servants for a time should be helping the American people understand. And yet, nobody on the other side of the aisle is talking about severability, even though everybody watching the court case knows that even if the opponents of Obamacare prevail in this case, that severability is what everyone expects will actually happen. And yet we hear again and again and again in this rhetoric just motivated by the cynical desire to get people to vote out of fear and panic in the November elections.\nNobody really believes this stuff.And so, I hope the Democrats that are making these speeches, staying here all night to say again and again things like, A vote for Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to end health care please have the courage to come back next April, May, and June and say you lied to the American people. You were just trying to scare them into voting and say what you were saying was B.S. Whoever writes these outside talking points - it's really destructive and the Senators know better than to parrot this pap.\nSo, they are out of arguments, but they're not out of soundbites. And one of the things that's true in American life is that with freedom of speech, even if your sound bite is nonsense, you have the right to be wrong and you have the right to say it. So, given that we're gonna be here all day, it's all over but the shouting, it seems like we don't have to play the same speeches on repeat over and over again. We can actually do two things and I think that we should spend a little bit of time reviewing how we got here and a little bit of time talking about where we go next.\r\nFirst, we should explicitly name the Senate's most valuable player and as somebody who is a junior member of this body,I don't want to cross Cocaine Mitch, the gentleman from Kentucky, but the truth of the matter is the Senator most responsible for the confirmation proceedings we have happening on the floor today is not from Kentucky.\nThe Senator most responsible for the fact that Amy Coney Barrett's gonna be confirmed tonight, the Senator most responsible for the confirmations of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, is the former Democratic leader from Nevada, Senator Harry Reid.\nIt was Senator Harry Reid that blew up the filibuster for judicial appointments in November of 2013, and the rest of how we got here is just a footnote on that history.\nLeader McConnell walked through some of this history on Friday and Saturday, how at every turn, from Robert Bork to Brett Kavanaugh, many progressive progressives have in an effort to try to secure policy outcomes in the Supreme Court, then escalating the confirmation wars. I won't repeat all of that history from Friday and Saturday here, but when Harry Reid went nuclear, he set the Senate on a path to this day.\nSo here we are with more than 200 federal judges confirmed in the last four years. Again, I've been on the floor for the last four hours so I've heard multiple people lament the pace of judicial confirmations on the floor. Some people love it, some people hate it, but whether you got hate mail or you got love letters, your destination address should be Las Vegas, Nevada.\r\nThere is simply no equivalent or comparable event in the confirmation escalation wars since they were created with the borking of Robert Bork in 1987. There's simply no comparable event with November of 2013 when Harry Reid decided to make this body simply majoritarian on confirmations.\nSo, where do we go next? It is no secret that some of my colleagues on the left are itching to blow up the legislative filibuster.\nIt's a slightly better kept secret that a whole bunch of Democrats in the Senate think this is a really bad idea. But they're scared to death of the activist groups that have decided to go after Dianne Feinstein in the last three weeks as a sort of trial run to show what happens to people who would resist trying to turn the Senate into a simple majoritarian body. But, I still want to at least compliment those folks in this body who've started to talk openly about their desire to blow up the filibuster for legislative process as well around here.\nI think it would be a very destructive thing to do, but I appreciate the people who are at least talking about it explicitly. I've been fighting about some of this with my friend Chris Coons. He is now open to blowing up the legislative filibuster, even though he was the leader of the Senate letter in, I think it was January of 2017, in defense of the filibuster.\nThe position he had then when there was a new administration of a different party is the position that I had then and it's still the position that I have now and regardless of what party holds power around here in 2021 or 2025 I'm still gonna be defending the Senate as a super majoritarian body that tries to actually have a deliberative process.\nSo, I think that my friend Chris is wrong about being open to blowing up the legislative filibuster - but I don't think he's wrong because he's a Democrat. I think that a whole bunch of Republicans were wrong about this issue in January of 2017, and so I fought with them as well.\nI got lots of angry calls and texts from Republican members of the House of Representatives in early 2017 for defending the legislative filibuster, because the House and Senate are supposed to be different kinds of bodies. We have different purposes. And so, my argument to Democrats now or in January is the same as the argument I made to Republicans in January of 2017, and that is that blowing up the filibuster would be to functionally kill the Senate. It would dramatically change not just this institution, but the structure of governance in our republic. Because without the filibuster, the Senate becomes just another majoritarian body - and we already have one of those. It's called the House of Representatives.\nThe House and the Senate are supposed to have different complimentary functions and if we kill the filibuster in the Senate, we will have simple 51-49 votes, radically changing the direction of the country. We would seegovernmentswings on a pendulum where big chunks of American life could be re-written every two years with simple 51-49 or 49-51 majority changes and therefore new majority votes. We would become more like aparliamentaryEuropean system - It's a system that has some virtues, butwe don't have that system and our Founders didn't pick that system on purpose.\nIn an age of declining trust and increasing cynicism, the answer is surely not more instability. This would deplete -- not replenish our declining reservoirs of public trust, killing the deliberative structure of the Senate would accelerate Congress's ongoing slow and bipartisan suicide where fewer and fewer decisions are made by the people's elected Representatives, and more and more decisions would be made by an unelected bureaucracy that the people back home that we represent in Nebraska or New York or Rhode Island or Virginia. The speeches that I've been hearing this morning where those folks don't have any power to hire or fire people that work in the administrative, state and accountability of governance to the people means that we want the elected Representatives to be making most of those decisions, not the unelectable bureaucracy - even though lots of those people are well-meaning public servants, they're simply not accountable to the public.\nSenators like Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Krysten Sinema would see diminished influence as the people of West Virginia, Montana and Arizona got increasingly sidelined for even more representation of New York and California.\nSo, my colleagues apparently want to finish the work that Senator Reid began, but this would be to double down on the division, the cynicism and the partisanship and they would pretend that that is a day that they would never regret. But I think it would be really useful for more of the folks who are thinking now about whether they're either in favor of ending the legislative filibuster or whether they're too scared to stand up to the activist groups that are demanding they end the legislative filibuster.It would be useful for a lot more of them to go on the record with the things they say to me in private about their regrets about November of 2013.\nI've only been here since January of 2015 and I've had either seven or eight different Democrats currently serving in this body tell me how much they regret the vote that they took and Harry Reid's urging in 2013 to end the filibuster for confirmations to the Judiciary. And I understand that a junior Republican Senator from Nebraska doesn't have a lot of sway in the Democratic conference, but maybe they would listen to the quote of a different, more influential Senator. The quote is this:\n\"If the right of free and open debate is taken away from the minority party and the millions of Americans who ask us to be their voice, then I fear that the partisan atmosphere in Washington will be poisoned to the point where no one will be able to agree on anything. That does not serve anybody's interests, and it certainly is not what the patriots who founded this democracy had in mind. We owe the people who sent us here more than that.We owe them much, much more.\"\nAgain, I want to repeat the quote, If the right of free and open debate is taken away from the minority party and the millions of Americans who ask us to be their vote, then I fear the partisan atmosphere in Washington will be poisoned to the point where no one will be able to agree on anything that does not serve anybody's interests, and it certainly is not what the patriots who founded this democracy had in mind. We owe the people who sent us here more than that.We owe them much, much more.\"\nThat quote was from the junior Senator from Illinois in 2005, Senator Barack Obama, speaking passionately to this body about why it was different, why it is different and why we have a stewardship obligation to defend the deliberative structure of the Senate. Senator, then President Obama was right then, he is right now, and I fear that he will sadly be right in the future if partisan tribalists decide to blow up the Senate and pack the Supreme Court.\nThe debate over Amy Coney Barrett is over, we'll be voting soon, but in the coming months, the debate for a critical piece of American governance will start, and I beg my colleagues to heed Senator Obama's advice. Protect America's structure of three branches of government. You lost this vote, but please don't burn down this institution again. Again, you lost this vote under the rules that Harry Reid created in 2013. Please don't burn down this institution.\nThank you, Mr. President.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=59ABB2C4-D3F6-4D69-AF53-9C0F2B61C1F7", "Sasse Statement on Judge Barrett Confirmation", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 52-48.\"Despite the efforts of rabid partisans, Amy Coney Barrett is on the Supreme Court. Progressives tried to destroy her. Conspiracy theorists attacked her faith. Desperate politicians besmirched her character. Some hacks even launched disgusting assaults on her family. But Americans tuned out the nonsense and got to know this tremendously impressive nominee. Justice Barrett is a brilliant originalist who will shape the Supreme Court for generations. This is good news for every American because she rises above the partisan gamesmanship and applies the law faithfully with no hidden agenda. Her loyalty is to the Constitution, and her fearless independence will build confidence in the American system. Congratulations, Justice Barrett.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/norfolk-daily-news-fortenberry-and-norfolk-mayor-discuss-success-paycheck", "Norfolk Daily News: Fortenberry and Norfolk Mayor Discuss Success of Paycheck Protection Program", "2020-10-26", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Jeff Fortenberry said he enjoyed being in Madison County on Friday to meet with small-business owners.\nOne of the things he and business owners discussed was the Paycheck Protection Program, which is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. If certain criteria are met, including that the funds were necessary because of COVID-19, it is forgivable.\nFortenberry's stops included downtown Norfolk and Madison. Fortenberry said he heard firsthand how businesses were successful through the PPP loan, bridging the gap during this dramatic time for small businesses.\nThis program has been a lifesaver. With it, we did three things, 1. Protect our health care infrastructure. 2. Protect individuals and families and 3. Protect small businesses in the first relief package, he said.\nBy working with small-business associations and the community banking infrastructure, Nebraska was positioned to become the leader per capita in these loans. The official estimate is that the program saved 300,000 jobs in Nebraska, he said.\nNorfolk Mayor Josh Moenning said he appreciates the leadership of Fortenberry.\nAt the onset of the pandemic, main street was in crisis mode. Small businesses took the brunt of the hardship from the restrictions, I think, Moenning said.\nI want to thank and commend Congressman Fortenberry for his quick, decisive and collaborative leadership in regards to the PPP, he said. That was a lifeline to these small main street businesses. It needed to happen quickly and it did and the congressman was one of the first out of the gate to do the education piece on it.\nIt was a big, complicated program, and those living in small businesses day-to-day didn't know where to turn.\nWithin a week of some of the shutdowns, Fortenberry set up a virtual small-business listening session, Moenning said. It helped people to learn how they could take part in the program, he said.\nAs evidence of how well it worked, Nebraska has the highest participation rate of the PPP in the nation, Moenning said.\nThat was because of leadership, bipartisan leadership, and we thank Congressman Fortenberry for that, Moenning said.\nFortenberry, a Republican, faces state Sen. Kate Bolz, a Democrat, in the 1st District congressional race.\nFortenberry said he also wanted to hear Friday from the businesses on how they are doing. There probably will be another PPP package coming, he said.\nFortenberry said he was impressed with Norfolk's revitalized downtown, including boutiques and specialty product stores. He said with digital advancements, people can work and live away from major cities.\nYou can live here in Norfolk now and just about do anything around the world with ease, he said. There's lot of good reasons to live in Norfolk because of livability, because of local leadership and because of the values proposition here. Look at your flourishing downtown.\nWith less than three weeks before the election, Fortenberry, who has represented Nebraska's 1st Congressional District since 2005, said he feels appreciative of Nebraskans' trust. They've entrusted me to work hard, discern decisions on their behalf and lead our country. It's tough work, and one of the first principles of this work is you have to show up.\nFortenberry, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, said he's always taken the perspective that he serves to build Nebraska and lead America.\nI've worked hard to advance in Congress. I'm what's called the ranking member of agricultural appropriations on the committee of appropriations. We support farmers and ranchers. That's what we do through that committee.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=24103E58-85CE-4AAB-B824-6B6715B23E97", "Sasse Statement on Barrett Cloture Vote", "2020-10-25", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Judiciary Committee who urged President Trump to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court for the past three years, issued the following statement after the Senate voted today to end debate and bring Judge Barrett's confirmation to a final vote on Monday.\n\"It's all over but the shouting. Democrats didn't lay a glove on Judge Barrett and, despite the ugly attacks on her faith and family, she's going to have a final up or down vote tomorrow. Amy Coney Barrett is beyond well-qualified for the Supreme Court  she is one of the greatest legal minds in America. We've spent years getting to this point. Judge Barrett belongs on the Supreme Court, and she'll be there soon.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=99B04903-98CA-42DD-AE65-F632941DE1F0", "Sasse Statement on Death of Dave Karnes", "2020-10-25", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement after the death of former Nebraska Senator Dave Karnes.\n\"This is heartbreaking news. Dave was a great man who tirelessly served Nebraskans. His work in Washington and here at home helped so many folks across our state. His selflessness and hard work made Nebraska proud. Melissa and I are praying for Dave's wife and daughters.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-passing-former-us-senator-nebraska-dave-karnes", "Fortenberry Statement on Passing of Former U.S. Senator from Nebraska,Dave Karnes", "2020-10-25", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) issued the following statement today upon learning of the passing of former United States Senator from Nebraska, Dave Karnes. \"I am deeply saddened by the loss of my friend, former U.S. Senator Dave Karnes. After his time in public office, Dave continued to serve Nebraska in so many positive and constructive ways. He was especially devoted to his beautiful family. May he rest in peace, Fortenberry said. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=2DCA4723-2D4F-45CC-8527-36B9305C6A46", "Sasse Statement on Israel-Sudan Relationship", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement praising the Trump Administration for the United States' role in the normalization of the relationship between Israel and Sudan.\"When America takes the lead on the global stage, good things happen. I'm glad the U.S. was able to help normalize relations between Sudan and Israel, and I hope that more agreements like this will follow. We should keep building on these diplomatic successes.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-hitting-mark", "Fort Report: Hitting the Mark", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=EEC202B2-0603-4F59-BB62-F03E38C53C94", "Sasse: Confirm Judge Barrett Now", "2020-10-22", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the committee voted to move Judge Barrett's nomination to the floor for a full vote.\"Judge Barrett ran circles around the Democrats' failed attempts to slander her character, faith, and family during these hearings. They don't like that Judge Barrett is going to do what judges are supposed to do  rise above politics and refuse to legislate from the bench. The polls show that Americans clearly support her confirmation. It's time for Chuck Schumer to drop the shenanigans and get this done.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=541483E7-FA90-4DAA-ADA9-681A9E4EEA31", "Sasse, Rubio, Colleagues Warn Against Court Packing", "2020-10-21", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Video of Sasse's remarks at the press conference is availablehereor by clicking on the image above\r\n\n\r\nToday, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined his colleagues at a press conference to discuss their constitutional amendment limiting the size of the Supreme Court to nine justices.\r\n\"At a time when you have declining public trust, the conversation that is being had among Democratic activist circles right now is about nuking two of three branches, Sasse said. This is about turning the Senate into just another House of Representatives. A simple majoritarian body that on 51-49, 49-51 swings every 24 months could try to remake more and more of American life. That is the opposite of the Founders' vision for what the Senate was for. The purpose of the Senate is to enable long debate, deliberation, and to allow passions to cool. So, the idea of nuking the Senate, ending its deliberative structure for the purposes of nuking the Supreme Court is a much bigger deal than is being publicly understood right now.\"\r\nBackground:\nSasse joined U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in a press conference regarding their constitutionalamendment.\nLast summer, Sasse and otherscondemnedthreats to pack the Supreme Court.\nThis month, Sassedescribedcourt packing as a suicide bombing that would destroy both the Senate and the Supreme Court.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/milford-times-fortenberry-visits-milford-high-school-seniors", "The Milford Times: Fortenberry Visits Milford High School Seniors", "2020-10-21", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Milford Jr./Sr. High School principal Brandon Mowinkle waited in the school's hallway and stared out the front doors. At times his youngest son was by his side, at others he talked with congressional aides in the plexi-glass lined office space just outside of his office.\nHe anticipated the arrival of Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, who accepted an invitation to visit Mowinkle and paid a 35-minute visit. Fortenberry met with two seniors, Makena Stutzman and Abby Houk, to talk about their college plans before greeting seniors participating in Apply2College Day and then speaking to the senior class in the school's gymnasium. State Sen. Mark Kolterman joined in the visit and also addressed the senior class.\nFortenberry encouraged the seniors to focus on what they want to do and also experiment with what may interest them. He talked about how he wanted to be veterinarian.\nI love animals, I was in 4-H, he said. I loved it. But that didn't mean that I should have been a veterinarian.\nEventually, Fortenberry said he found the economic and policy-making pathway which led him to government. Fortenberry served on the Lincoln City Council before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives as Nebraska's First District representative following long-time Congressman and Utica native Doug Bereuter's retirement in in 2004. Fortenberry is currently campaigning for a ninth term.\nFortenberry told the gathered seniors about his responsibilities and how he works in Washington D.C. on their behalf.\nFor an encouraging anecdote, Fortenberry shared a fable about how a farmer became locally famous in the combine for his straight rows through the fields. That farmer then guided his son on how to do the same. As the story went, the boy kept looking back to ensure the line was straight and, by doing so, caused wavy rows throughout the field. Fortenberry encouraged the senior class to focus on their future and not on the past.\nBefore the senior class was dismissed, Fortenberry said what he has enjoyed most about being a Congressman. That gave him an opportunity to talk about how rewarding it's been to represent Nebraskans and address the political divide.\nFortenberry said he's built great working relationships with Democrats in Washington and they'll seek each other's opinion on policy making.\nThose are the things that you don't see, he said. What you do see is the ever-intensifying proxy. Politics is a substitute for what's going on across the country.\nHe said that it's harsh and a problem.\nFortenberry's team of aides recorded Fortenberry's conversations with Mowinkle throughout the visit, as well as a quick conversation with John Baylor, who was also in Milford that day to speak to students about their educational futures.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/plattsmouth-journal-fortenberry-visits-domestic-nutraceutical-producer-and-ppp", "Plattsmouth Journal: Fortenberry Visits Domestic Nutraceutical Producer and PPP Recipient Vireo Resources", "2020-10-21", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "PLATTSMOUTH  Vireo Resources employees had a chance to meet a member of Congress on Tuesday morning when a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives visited Plattsmouth.\n\n\tIncumbent Congressman Jeff Fortenberry spoke to approximately 20 people during a stop at the company's location on Wiles Road. Plattsmouth Mayor Paul Lambert and Vireo executives Deeannah Seymour and Mark Faulkner greeted Fortenberry and joined him at a speaking podium in the main warehouse of the business.\n\n\tFortenberry praised Seymour, Faulkner and Vireo employees for their contributions to the Cass County economy. The Tennessee-based company broke ground on a three-story building south of the existing structure in August. The expansion project will eventually create between 200 and 300 new jobs at the health products store.\n\n\tYou're a good business, Fortenberry said. You provide economic opportunities for people.\n\n\tFortenberry is running for re-election as the representative of Nebraska's 1st Congressional District. He currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee and two subcommittees. These include the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee, and the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee.\n\n\tFortenberry has been the local representative since 2005. He is running against challenger Kate Bolz for the seat in Congress this year.\n\t\n\t\tFortenberry told the audience that one of his primary concerns was the increasing production of pharmaceutical items outside the United States. Many companies are now manufacturing drugs and medications in countries such as China and India. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the drug supply chain from those locations and has caused shortages in the United States.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tWe've all learned just how dependent we have become on China for medicines, Fortenberry said. I'd be a lot more comfortable if I saw Made in America' on every bottle sold on the shelves.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tFortenberry also spoke about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and its impact on Nebraska businesses. The PPP is part of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed earlier this year. Business owners have been able to access PPP loans to keep their workforces employed throughout the pandemic.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tVireo Resources used a PPP loan to keep Plattsmouth workers on the clock this spring and summer. Fortenberry said it was a prime example of how the PPP had benefited people across the country.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tWhen the pandemic started it caused tremendous confusion as to what would happen in America, Fortenberry said. There were two goals with the PPP: protect healthcare and save the economy.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tFortenberry said he was pleased to be able to stop in Plattsmouth during the campaigning season. He told the audience he had developed strong relationships with local leaders and was interested in supporting businesses like Vireo Resources.\n\t\tCass County and Plattsmouth are an important part of this district, Fortenberry said.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/in-the-news/wjag-fortenberry-how-paycheck-protection-program-saved-over-300000-jobs-nebraska", "WJAG: Fortenberry on How the Paycheck Protection Program Saved Over 300,000 Jobs in Nebraska", "2020-10-21", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WJAG: Fortenberry on How the Paycheck Protection Program Saved Over 300,000 Jobs in Nebraska", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0BA47857-178C-4867-8124-18B602CBC7D6", "Sasse Statement on Chinese Communist Partys Influence on American Colleges", "2020-10-20", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education released a report regarding foreign funding in higher education and enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Ed Act of 1965.\"The Chinese Communist Party is targeting America's colleges. Our colleges -- institutions built to promote the very kind of free thought that the communists in Beijing so desperately fear -- ought to be more transparent with their foreign contracts and comply with existing law. Universities need to be more engaged and realize that the CCP intentionally blurs the line between public and private to expand power and influence.\"\nBackground: The Department of Education recently launched investigations into 12 schools who had reportedly failed to fully disclose foreign contracts. Some of these schools reportedly entered into contracts with Huawei, a known tech spy arm of the Chinese Communist Party.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=387DEEB4-277A-4150-A381-4328E41FF436", "Sasse Statement on Sweden Huawei Ban", "2020-10-20", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after Sweden banned Huawei and ZTE from gaining access to their 5G network.\"Make no mistake: Huawei is simply the CCP's surveillance puppet disguised as a private' company. There is nothing private' about Huawei. They lie, steal information, and report only to Chairman Xi. Sweden made the right call today and our relationship will be made stronger for it.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=8EAA6B83-EAF4-40E1-8568-559A50BBF259", "Sasse Statement on Political Vandalism; Harvest Bee", "2020-10-20", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse released the following statement as Nebraskans are preparing to help Jonathan Rempel of Henderson finish harvesting his crops. Last week, a suspicious early morning fire destroyed multiple pieces of farm equipment, including a combine that had two flags supporting President Donald Trump. The investigation is ongoing.\"As Americans, we should be able to say this clearly: acts of violence or vandalism towards political opponents are abhorrent. We're rooting for the Rempel family, and Nebraskans are going to show the country what America is really all about. Friends, family, and neighbors are going to come together and help the Rempel family finish the harvest.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=B93E4FFB-8A4F-491B-88A3-3127209E5FE7", "Sasse Statement on Lefts Failed Attempt to Smear Judge Barrett", "2020-10-20", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement regarding polling from Gallup and the New York Times this morning that shows a majority of Americans both support Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court and reject court packing.\"Today's polling makes it clear that Sheldon Whitehouse's conspiracy theory charts and Mazie Hirono's baffling cross examination failed to bork Judge Barrett. The American people tuned out the nonsense and saw Judge Barrett's intelligence and humility. The left's apocalyptic rhetoric and court packing schemes are wildly out of touch.\"\nBackground: The week before Judge Barrett's confirmation hearing, Senator Sasse  a longtime advocate for Judge Barrett  predicted that the left's apocalyptic rhetoric will seem extra nutty when Americans hear from Judge Barrett at her confirmation hearings.\"\nToday,polling from Gallupshows that a majority of Americans  including a majority of Independents  want to see Judge Barrett on the Supreme Court.\nToday,polling from The New York Timesshows 58% of Americans  including 65% of independents  oppose court packing.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=332C0F26-A1AB-4954-A123-7ED9D9D77A8F", "Sasse Statement on Brazil Trade Agreement", "2020-10-19", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a staunch advocate for trade, issued the following statement after the USTR announced a trade agreement with Brazil.\r\n\"More trade is always a win-win for the Nebraskans who work tirelessly to feed the world. Common ground agreements like this will only open doors for future negotiations that help our state expand trade access. That means more money in American's pockets and greater access for the products hard-working Nebraskans produce. This is good news.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/protecting-medicare-open-enrollment-begins", "Protecting Medicare as Open Enrollment Begins", "2020-10-19", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "There are two approaches to meet the health care needs of Americans. The first way is a command economy approach, such as the Medicare for All effort, which uses mandates to force patients, providers, and insurers to take action  demonstrated under Obamacare to worsen access and drive up costs. The second way is to use the marketplace to drive down costs and improve consumer access like we used in constructing Medicare Part D to improve prescription access for seniors. An important part of this process is Medicare Open Enrollment, which runs from October 15 through December 7.\n \nThe most important feature driving cost savings in Part D is the annual requirement for insurers to rebid plans, negotiate prices, and demonstrate to Medicare beneficiaries the value their plans offer. Because of this requirement, every year seniors have an opportunity to choose the Medicare Part D plan that best meets their needs at the best price.\n \nBy visiting Medicare.gov, you can view your current enrollment, sort through your options, and select a plan which best suits you. If you would rather speak to an expert directly, you can call1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). In addition, the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) provides free, accurate, and objective information on your plan of choice. You can reach Nebraska SHIIP at 1-800-234-7119 or https://www.doi.nebraska.gov/shiip. \n \nMedicare Open Enrollment, which gives seniors the opportunity to make changes to their Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, may have extra importance this year. We know that seniors are at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and experiencing severe symptoms than the rest of the population. The pandemic has demonstrated the necessity of a strong Medicare program and the need for options for our seniors as they plan for their health care.\n \nSeniors rely on Medicare, and it is our job in Congress to see to it that Medicare is working correctly. Efforts like Medicare for All would change Medicare as we know it and ruin its very purpose. Through my position on the Ways and Means Committee, I remain committed to improving Medicare, not obliterating its foundation and mission of helping seniors.\n \nAlong with protecting Medicare in Congress, my staff and I are always here to help navigate Medicare and the open enrollment period. If you would like assistance, please do not hesitate to call my Grand Island office, or visit my website at AdrianSmith.house.gov. Be sure to check your Medicare plan options", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/fort-report/fort-report-milford-and-beyond", "Fort Report: Milford and Beyond", "2020-10-16", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Please sign up here to receive my email newsletter or periodic text updates.You may cancel or unsubscribe at any time.\n*  marks required fields of data.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=32E4445E-7490-4713-AA28-71BF3804DDB2", "Sasse: Joe Biden Playing With Fire", "2020-10-15", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after Joe Biden again refused to reject packing the Supreme Court.\n\"Vice President Biden is playing with fire while the radical left threatens to pour gasoline on both the Senate and the Supreme Court. Court-packing would burn down two branches of government by killing the Senate's filibuster and turning the Supreme Court into an unelected super-legislature. This garbage is constitutional arson.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-passing-wwii-historian-major-timothy-kilvert-jones-who", "Fortenberry Statement on Passing of WWII Historian Major Timothy Kilvert-Jones, Who Helped Inspire Effort to Create Higgins Boat Monument in Normandy, France", "2020-10-14", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) issued the following statement today upon learning of the passing of British Army Major Timothy Kilvert-Jones, who helped inspire the effort to create a Higgins Boat memorial on Utah Beach in Normandy, France. I am very sad to learn that WWII military historian and British Army Major Timothy Kilvert-Jones has died in Normandy, France.As the citizens of Columbus may remember, Major Kilvert-Jones came to Nebraska and met with our veterans, and upon seeing the Higgins Boat Memorial, had an insightful question: what about another one for France? Fortenberry said. \"Major Kilvert-Jones had extensive knowledge of the key role the Higgins Boat played in the D-Day invasion.The Higgins boat was named after its inventor, Columbus native Andrew Jackson Higgins, Fortenberry added. \"Major Kilvert-Jones and I stayed in frequent touch over the years. He was extremely grateful to the community of Columbus for their hard work in making the new memorial in France happen. He told me that the Higgins Boat Monument has transformed the experience for visitors to Normandy, Fortenberry said. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Member of the House\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0467DABE-1372-4EA1-A364-E624E43957A0", "Barrett Gives Originalism Master Class", "2020-10-13", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Video of the exchange is availablehereor by clicking the image above.\r\nU.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Judge Barrett, a former law professor at the University of Notre Dame, to give a plainspoken explanation of her originalist judicial philosophy, the nature of law, and the role of the courts.\r\nFull text of the exchange is available below.\nSenator Ben Sasse:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Judge, welcome back. I mean this as good news, but it might not feel like it. After me, you're half done for today. I'm eleventh of twenty-two.\nMr. Chairman, before I begin my questioning, I'd like to ask unanimous consent to admit into the record a letter from Allen Guelzo, the historian at Princeton, who has written a letter to the Committee in response to some of Senator Harris' claims about the history of Supreme Court vacancies going back to the Civil War.\nSenator Graham: Without objection.\nSasse: Thank you.Judge, you have said that the meaning of law doesn't change with time, andyou've said that's very important. Can you unpack for us why it's so important that the meaning of a law doesn't change with time?\nJudge Amy Coney Barrett:Sure, because the law stays the same until it is lawfully changed. And if we're talking about a law that has been enacted by the people's representatives or gone through the process of Constitutional Amendment or Constitutional ratification, it must go through the lawfully prescribed process before it's changed. So, Article V in the context of the Constitution, or bicameralism and presentment in the context of statutes, and it's not up to judges to short-circuit that process by updating the law. That's your job.\nSasse:But laws clearly are written in a context and then the things, the circumstances to which those laws have applied would change. Does the Fourth Amendment have nothing to say about cell phones? Unreasonable search and seizure was obviously not written ata time when they imagined mobile technological devices that addicted our kids. Does the Fourth Amendment have nothing to say about cell phones?\nBarrett:No, the Fourth Amendment... so, the Constitution, one reason why it's the longest-lasting written Constitution in the world is because it's written at a level of generality that's specific enough to protect rights, but general enough to be lasting so that when you're talking about the constable banging at your door banging at your door in 1791 as a search or seizure, now we can apply it as the court did in Carpenter v. United States to cell phones. So, the Fourth Amendment is a principle. It protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, but it doesn't catalog the instances in which an unreasonable search and seizure could take place. So, you take that principle, and then you apply it to modern technology like cell phones, or, you know... what if technological advances enable someone with superman x-ray vision to simply see in your house? So, there's no need to knock on the door and go in. Well, I think that could still be analyzed under the Fourth Amendment.\nSasse:So, I think this is a useful place to explain to the American people, again, what originalism is and why it's a mistake to view it as a Republican position. I think that originalism is a part of a jurisprudential debate. It's not a part of a policy continuum between Republicans and Democrats. I think it's something that's useful for everybody who believes that three branches of government have two that are political and one that is not. So, maybe it's useful to just kind of back up and say when you define yourself as an originalist, what does that mean? And then, how is it going to relate to that distinction between the principles that are timeless but the applications that are clearly going to change by circumstance.\nBarrett:Right, so originalism means that you treat the Constitution as law because it commits these texts to writing. And in interpreting that law, you interpret it in accord with the meaning that people would have understood it to have at the time that it was ratified. And the reason that you do that is because, otherwise, well as I said, the law stays the same until it's lawfully changed. Otherwise, judges would be in the Constitutional convention business of updating the law rather than allowing the people to take control of that. Now, in the case of the Constitution, as I said with the Fourth Amendment, many of its principles are more general. Unreasonable searches and seizures, you know, free speech. Those are things that have to be identified or fleshed out or applied over time, so the fact that there wasn't the internet or computers or blogs in 1791 doesn't mean that the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause couldn't apply to those things now. It enshrines a principle, and we understand the principle as it was at the time. But then, it's capable of being applied to new circumstances.\nSasse:So, when you define yourself as an originalist, what are the other schools of thought that are adjacent to it, and how do you think about the debates among those with other people that are now with you on the Seventh Circuit, for instance?\r\n  Barrett:Sure. Well, Senator Sasse, I think one thing that it's worth pointing out is that in the academy, in any event where I've spent a large portion of my career, originalism is not necessarily a conservative idea. There is a whole school of thought, and so originalists are now a very diverse lot, and there is a school of originalism that's more of a progressive originalism and is very committed to keeping the Constitution's meaning, just interpreting text the way all originalists do to say that it was, has the meaning that it had at the time that it was ratified, but they tend to read it at a higher level of generality. So, all originalists don't necessarily agree, and in fact, there's an advocacy group called the Constitution Accountability Center, which has routinely filed briefs in the Supreme Court, that calls itself - it writes briefs in support of originalism but taking it from a more progressive standpoint. So, I don't think it's - probably people think, oh it's only people who are conservatives who are originalists,' but actually it's a more widely accepted view than that. I think that if you think about different strains of approaching Constitutional text, originalism is one. All judges and justices take account of history and the original meaning, it's just that some weight it differently, whereas originalists would give it dispositive weight when it's discernible. Other approaches to Constitutional interpretation may take a more pragmatic view and say in some instances, well, that may have been the historical meaning, but that's an uncomfortable fit for current circumstances, so we will tweak it a little bit to adjust it to fit these circumstances, that situations. Sometimes it's called living constitutionalism, that the Constitution can evolve and change over time. Sometimes it's called a more pragmatic Constitutionalism.\nSasse:I want to be sure we establish this fact clearly together, because one of the things that I think is really unhelpful for the American people when they see hearings like this over the last 20 years is there is an assumption that those of us who have advocated for you over the course of the last three years must be doing it because we know something about your policy views, and we've seen the beautiful mind conspiracy theory charts, for instance, that this is about specific outcomes that people want. What I want is to have a judge who doesn't want to take away the job of a legislature that's accountable to the people. What I want is to be sure that the two political branches that are accountable to the people because they can hire and fire us are the places where policy decisions are made. So, what you're saying is in the legal academy, there are people who agree with you on originalism as a broad philosophical school, and yet would come out very different places on the outcomes of particular policy decisions?\nBarrett:That is what I'm saying.\nSasse:So, on the Notre Dame law faculty when you wereup for the vacancy on the 7th Circuit 3 years ago, the Notre Dame Law Faculty as I understand, the letter that we got from them here, had people unanimously recommend you across a faculty, and I would assume there is a pretty wide view on policy on the Notre Dame Law faculty?\nBarrett:There is.\nSasse:And so, people can affirm that you know what the job of a judge is. You have the judicial temperament, and modesty, and humility about the calling, and they're comfortable with you, even though they don't think they might agree with every single policy view you might have before you put on your robe.\nBarrett:I hope that is what people think of me, because that is what I have always striven to do, and certainly in my time as a judge, my boss is the rule of law, not imposing my policy preferences.\r\n  Sasse:So, can you tell us what the black robe is about? Why do judges in our system wear robes?\nBarrett:Well, judges in our system wear black robes, and they started wearing black robes, actually, because Chief Justice John Marshall started the practice. In the beginning, justices used to wear colorful robes that identified them with the schools that they had graduated from, and John Marshall decided to wear a simple, black robe. Pretty soon the other justices followed suit, and now all judges do it. I think the black robe shows that justice is blind. We all dress the same. It shows that once we put it on, we are standing united, symbolically, speaking in the name of the law, not speaking for ourselves as individuals.\nSasse:Thank you. In your questioning from Chairman Graham this morning, you talked a little about the process of judicial decision making, and you started with four steps and then added a fifth and then I think added a sixth, because it turns out that being a reactive branch is really reactive. Can you explain what it means that the Judiciary, the Article III branch, is reactive?\nBarrett:So, Article III of the Constitution says that courts can hear cases or controversies. So, a judge can't just walk in one day and say I feel like visiting the question of healthcare and telling people what I think. We can't even think about the law or how it would apply until litigants bring a real live case with real live parties and a real live dispute before us. The material that we have to decide that dispute is what comes from you. It is the statutes that you pass. We don't get to come up with the policies and see our wishes become part of the United States code. We react to the litigants who bring cases before us, and we apply the laws that you make.\nSasse:What are the steps inside those Article III courts before it would ever get to a situation where the Supreme Court hears cases? What is unique about the Supreme Court?\nBarrett:So, the Supreme Court obviously sits atop the Federal hierarchy of the Judiciary. My court now, the Seventh Circuit, every time someone loses in the district courts, which are the trial courts, they can appeal, and we take every single appeal that comes. The Supreme Court works differently. The Supreme Court takes cases when it needs to, most frequently the reason it takes them is to resolve a division among the courts of appeals or the state supreme courts. The Supreme Court gets about 8,000 petitions a year and hear about 80 cases a year, so it is discretionary of what cases to take.\nSasse:So, it's a reactive branch and is after a process where there is a statute, it's been challenged, there are active cases, and then it works its way up to the Court. But, when the justices decline to take a case, what are they saying? Are they saying you don't matter and you don't have a right to appeal? What are they saying to a litigants in a case when they decline to grant?\nBarrett:They are not expressing any view on the merits. They are simply saying that this isn't a case we are going to put on our docket for certiorari because the Court has obviously limited time and limited resources, and so it selects the cases where it is resolving a division, for example, or some other question, of national importance on which the Supreme Court needs to step in.\nSasse:There has been a lot of discussion, in some of the questioning this morning, implicitly, about standing. Can you just explain what standing is so that the American people understand it?\nBarrett:Yes. So, this dovetails with your question about the Judiciary being a reactive branch. As I said, the Constitution gives the federal courts the power only to decide actual live cases and controversies. So, not only can we wake up one morning and volunteer our views, because the Constitution prohibits us from giving what are called advisory opinions. We can't just dispense advice or give our views on the law, which is one reason I am not able to answer some of the questions being asked today. A litigant can't get us to give an advisory opinion or illicit a view, unless the litigant actually has a real case. You, Senator Sasse, couldn't walk into court and file a lawsuit and just ask me to give my advice whether some particular statute was constitutional. I can only decide that question if there is an actual dispute about it.\nSasse:You mentioned living constitutionalism a little bit ago. I think Chief Justice Warren had a much broader view of standing than some of the folks that have influenced your thinking and writing. Can you walk us through a little bit of the history of the court's view on standing over the past few decades?\nBarrett:So, are you thinking about how broadly, like when a plaintiff has suffered an injury, or that's a concrete injury?\nSasse:Right.\nBarrett:So, Senator Sasse, if you came into court and you were objecting to a particular statute, and you didn't like a particular statute. You would actually have to suffer what is called a concrete injury. The Supreme Court a few terms ago in a case called Spokeo, said that a plaintiff lacks a concrete injury if the harm isn't, let's see, to use words that the American people might understand, palpable. Like it can't just be a procedural injury, or something that didn't actually have real consequences, a real effect on the litigant. I think that the dispute about standing or the difficult thing in deciding questions about standing or the Spokeo thing lays this out is deciding when an injury is concrete and the courts can hear it, or when an injury is abstract and designed to illicit an advisory opinion from the court.\nSasse:So, you said in your opening statement yesterday that it is not the responsibility of the courts to right every wrong in society. I'm going to ask you a question about it, but first can you just remind us what your view is there? Why did you say that?\nBarrett: Um, so probably what I was getting at there, although I have to say, Senator Sasse, so much has happened since I gave the opening statement yesterday. Courts, because they are reactive, can't reach out to right wrongs that don't come to them in the situation of a case or controversy. And then, even if they come to courts in the situation of a case or controversy that a court can legitimately decide, we're not free to just resolve it like Solomon in the way that we think is wisest. So, we are only free to address wrongs and decide cases in accordance with democratically elected law. So, the policy making is yours to do, and it is only if you have enacted policies that enable us to right a wrong that we can do so.\nSasse: So, you still said though that you view it as some of your responsibility on the Seventh Circuit to write every opinion, every judgement, from the standpoint of the losing party. Explain to us why you take that perspective of wanting the losing party to understand the law and the argument.\nBarrett: So, I just write the opinion as I would write the opinion. And then after I write the opinion, I read it from the perspective of the losing party because I want to make sure that, like I said earlier, it's a check on me to make sure that if I try to put my emotions or my preferences on the other side that I can see that it's been a balance just strictly driven my legal analysis. I also want to make sure that the language in it is very respectful to the party that will ultimately be disappointed. I don't know, is that responsive?\nSasse: Yeah, because why I want to ask this is because, I'm in my fifth year here, or a little over five years, and I'm on my fourth year on this committee. And pretty much you're the third Supreme Court nominee to come before the committee during that time, and we've had dozens of appellate court nominees, and I've been amazed how many times the argument is: American people are really, really scared. The person sitting before us obviously hates people and wants sick people to die and not have health care coverage.\"\nThat's sort of an argument that's routine around here. It's been focus grouped, obviously, as a good way to demonize nominees to the Court and hopefully drive outcomes and elections, I guess. I don't understand it. I think it's terribly destructive of the civic health and yet I think about it from the standpoint of thoughtful, well-meaning Nebraska Democrats who hear that and they know I have a different policy view than they might on getting the portability in healthcare so people can keep their health insurance across job and geographic change because that's actually what's driving uninsurance in America over the last few decades. It's not primarily health status. It's not primarily pre-existing conditions or socioeconomics.\nThe number one driver of uninsurance in American public life is that we change jobs a lot more frequently than we used to. And so, I have a different policy solution of how we would get to portability in healthcare than a lot of my Democratic colleagues. But those are policy disputes about a modern economy where people move around a lot, both geographically and in terms of employer sponsored health insurance relationships.\nThose contracts are not really the things that a nominee coming before the court is supposed to opine on because I don't have any ideas what your views are on healthcare, but I know that it's not really the job of a judge to reflect on those things.\nAnd so, I want to be sure that folks who hear this hearing and at the end of the process they can have trust that you're not a person who really wishes secretly you could be the queen of all healthcare and decide all these issues. And so, when you write your opinion it seems to me that one of the really humble things you're doing is you're saying in every case that's comes before me on the Seventh Circuit I want to write this opinion from the standpoint of the losing party to understand what was the question before the court today and how did the court rule on that specific, narrow thing, because ultimately I think you would believe, given you're jurisprudential tradition and given your view of judicial modesty and humility in your Scalia mentorship, my guess is there are times when you rule in cases where you go home at night and you take off your robe and you think the outcome is not the outcome you wish had been the case, but it wasn't your job to ultimately decide all policy in American life. It was to decide the specific question before you. And it seems to me the humble, empathetic way you write those opinions is really important.\nIt's also - it should be in the interest of public trust and American people who might listen to a lot of the demagoguery that implies that really, you're just secretly a policy actor it should be pretty comforting to them that except for probably Justice Breyer, you've written more I think than anybody who's currently on the Court. So, people can actually know your jurisprudential views and how you're going to approach cases when you get on the Court because you've written a ton.\nThere's a reason why the Notre Dame faculty, regardless of their policy positions, wrote a letter to this committee universally recommending you. There's a reason why year after year on the Notre Dame Law faculty you were professor of the year, because students regardless of their policy views thought you were really good at explaining what the job of a judge is and the purpose of Article III in our Constitutional system is.\nAnd as somebody who worries a lot about institutional trust and a lot of the attacks that we see on the Court, a lot of the attempts we see in this language about potentially court packing if we would go to 11 or 13 or 15 or a Venezuelan style 47-person court over the next couple of election cycles that undermining, that delegitimizing of the courts should have as its antidote the fact that you have written a ton about what you think the job of a judge is and people can actually understand it and I would hope that that's some of what this hearing would try to unpack.\nI am nearly out of time and I think the Chairman is going to take away my slot, so I want to ask one final thing. Tell us about the Scalia-Ginsburg friendship and the impact that it made on you.\nBarrett: So, Justice Scalia famously when the vacancy came up - I think it was Justice White's seat that Justice Ginsburg filled - but when the vacancy came open during the Clinton Administration, Justice Scalia recommended her even though they had been together on the D.C. Circuit and that's where they got to know each other. And he knew that she had a different jurisprudence approach. And you know, a lot has been said in the weeks since Justice Ginsburg died about that friendship because I think it speaks so well to both of the characters that despite the fact that they had such great differences and they could fight with the pen when they were socializing, when they were outside of the opinion writing world, they had respect and affection for one another. And that's how I've tried to live my life with - I have friends who disagree with me vehemently about all kinds of things but I think that it is dehumanizing if we reduce people to the political or policy differences that we might have with one another.\nSasse: Thank you and congrats on being half done.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=22317D05-7DAB-4326-A4AD-A10FF6C905DA", "Sasse Statement on Northam/Whitmer Kidnapping Attempts", "2020-10-13", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement after an FBI Agent testified in court that the alleged conspirators charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also plotted to kidnap Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.\"This stuff is pure lunacy. In America, violence against a political opponents should be soundly rejected. We win policy debates through persuasion and by loving our neighbors, not by threats. The American system is being infiltrated by an ugly politics that is unhealthy for our nation.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/news/press-releases/fortenberry-statement-dedication-davis-global-center-university-nebraska-medical", "Fortenberry Statement on Dedication of the Davis Global Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center", "2020-10-13", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(LINCOLN, NE) Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) issued the following statement today after attending the virtual dedication ceremony of the Dr. Edwin G. and Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is now the nation's, and soon a global, leader in infectious disease and many other categories of disease research and education. That happens because there is a vision and a team of committed leadersstate, federal and localwho pull together to overcome obstacles to keep our national health security sound. Fortenberry said. Through their sacrificial giving, Nebraska's charitable community has again empowered those of us entrusted with the extraordinary position of leadership in government to do things that are smart, visionary, and fiscally sound. Thanks to this remarkable public-private collaboration, the Davis Global Center will keep the University of Nebraska Medical Center at the leading edge of health care treatment, teaching, training, and research, Fortenberry added. \"The impressive new Davis Global Center will house the iEXCEL Program, a transformative model for health education that incorporates advanced simulation and visualization technologies to improve patient care. It will also house the Global Center for Health Security, which I helped fund the through the Appropriations process in Washington. It is a key component of our nation's bio-preparedness for high-impact diseases like COVID-19, Fortenberry said. Fortenberry Speech at Dedication of Davis Global Center at University of Nebraska Medical Center:https://youtu.be/nVCTFDK3u9A Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01) is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=069844F3-9F33-4C7B-805C-5B4A593CA09D", "Sasse Remarks on Civics, Jackwagons, and Judges", "2020-10-12", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Day One of Barrett Confirmation Hearings Begin \r\n\n\n\r\n\n  Video of Senator Sasse's comments is availablehereor by clicking the image above.\n\r\n\r\nOn the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse spoke on the distinction between civics and politics, the importance of religious liberty, and the distinction between originalist judges and activist judges.\nSenator Sasse's full remarks are found below.\r\nI think it would be very useful for us to pause and remind ourselves and do some of our civic duty to eighth graders to help them realize what a President runs for, what a Senator runs for, and on the other hand why Judge Barrett is sitting before us today and what the job is that you're being evaluated for.\nSo, if we can back up and do a little bit of eighth grade civics I think it would benefit us and benefit the watching country - and especially watching eighth grade civics classes.\nSo, I'd like to distinguish first between civics and politics because there was a time - the Chairman said at the beginning of this hearing - there was a time when people that would be as different as Ruth Bader Ginsburg - and she was a heroic woman - that's absolutely true, and Antonin Scalia, another brilliant mind and your mentor. People that different could both go through the Senate and get confirmation votes of 95 or 98 votes. And the Chairman said at the beginning of the hearing he doesn't know what happened between then and now.\nI think some of what happened between then and now is we decided to forget what civics are and allow politics to swallow everything. So, if I can start I'd like to just remind us of the distinction between civics and politics.\nCivics is the stuff we're all supposed to agree on regardless of our policy view differences. Civics is another way we talk about the rules of the road. Civics 101 is the stuff like Congress writes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, courts apply them.\nNone of that stuff should be different if you're a Republican or a Democrat or a Libertarian or a Green Party member. This is basic civics. Civics is the stuff that all Americans should agree on like religious liberty is essential.\nPeople should be able to fire the folks who write the laws and the voters can't fire the judges. Judges should be impartial. This is just Civics 101.\nPolitics is different. Politics is the stuff that happens underneath civics. Civics is the overarching stuff we as Americans agree in common. Politics is the subordinate, less important stuff that we differ about.\nPolitics is like if I look at my friend Chris Coons and I say Listen up jackwagon, what you want to do on this particular Finance Committee bill is going to be way too expensive and might bankrupt our kids. Or if Chris looks back at me and says Listen up jackwagon, you're too much of a cheapskate and you're underinvesting in the next generation. That's a really important debate. That's a political debate.That's not civics. Civics is more important than that. Civics doesn't change every 18-24 months because the electoral winds change and because polling changes.\nI think it's important that we help our kids understand that politics is the legitimate stuff we fight about, and civics is the places where we pull back and say, Wait a minute. We have things that are in common, and before we fight again about politics, let's reaffirm some of our civics.\"\nSo, I'd like to have just sort of a basic grammar of civics for five minutes. One thing we should all agree on and two things that we should all disagree with. We should agree on it, but one thing we agree about and are in favor of, and two things that we agree on that we should all reject.\nFirst, a positive, grand, unifying truth about America, and that is religious liberty. Religious liberty is the basic idea that how you worship is none of the government's business. Government can wage wars, government can write parking tickets, but government cannot save souls. Government is really important. War is important. Parking tickets are important. But your soul is something that the government can't touch. So, whether you worship in a mosque, or a synagogue, your faith, or your lack of faith, is none of the government's business. It's your business, and your family's, and your neighbor's and all sorts of places where people break bread together and argue, but it's not about power, it's not about force, it's not about the government.\nThis is the fundamental American belief. Religious liberty is one of those five great freedoms clustered in the First Amendment -- Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and Protest -- these five freedoms that hang together, that are the basic pre-governmental rights, are sort of Civics 101 we all agree on well before we get to anything as relatively inconsequential as tax policy. So, civics should be the stuff we affirm together. And contrary to the belief of some activists, religious liberty is not an exception. You don't need the government's permissionto have religious liberty.\nReligious liberty is the default assumption of our entire system, and because religious liberty is the fundamental 101 rule in American life, we don't have religious tests. This committee isn't in the business of deciding whether the dogma lives too loudly within someone. This committee isn't in the business of deciding which religious beliefs are good and which religious beliefs are bad and which religious beliefs are weird. And I just want to say, as somebody who's self-consciously a Christian, we got a whole bunch more really weird beliefs. Forgiveness of sins, the Virgin Birth, resurrection of the dead, eternal life. They're a whole bunch of really, really crazy ideas that are a lot weirder than some Catholic moms giving each other advice about parenting. And yet there are places where this committee has acted like it's the job of the committee to delve into people's religious communities.\nThat's nuts. That's a violation of our basic civics. That's a violation of what all of us believe together. This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democrat idea. It's a Democrat idea and a Republican idea, but more fundamentally, it's an American idea. The good news is whether you think your religious beliefs might be judged wacky by someone else, it's none of the business of this committee to delve into any of that in this context, because in this committee, and in this Congress, and in this constitutional structure, religious liberty is the basic truth. And whatever you, or I or Judge Barrett believe about God isn't any of the government's business. We can all believe in that in common.\nWe should all reaffirm that in common, and that should be on display over the course of the next four days in this committee. Now a couple of terms that all of our eight-graders should know as things we should reject in common. And again, shared rejection, not Republican versus Democrat or Democrat versus Republican, but a shared American rejection. And the first is this: judicial activism. Judicial activism is the idea that judges get to advocatefor or advance policies, even though they don't have to stand for election before the voters and even though have lifetime tenure.\nJudicial activism is the really bad idea that tries to convince the American people to view the judiciary as a block of progressive votes and conservative votes, Republican justices and Democratic justices. This is the confused idea that the Supreme Court is just another arena for politics. When politicians try to demand that judicial nominees, who are supposed to be fair and impartial, when politicians try to get judicial nominees to give their views on cases or to give their views on policies, to try to get them to pre-commit to certain outcomes in future court cases, we are politicizing the courts and that is wrong.\nThat is a violation of our oath to the Constitution. Likewise, when politicians refuse to give answers to the pretty basic question of whether or not they want to try to change the number of justices in the court, which is what court packing actually is. When they want to try to change the outcomes of what courts do in the future by trying to change the size and composition of the Court: that is a bad idea that politicizes the judiciary and reduces public trust.\nOn the other hand, depoliticizing the Court looks a lot like letting courts and judges do their jobs and the Congress do our jobs. You don't like the policies in America? Great, elect different people in the House and in the Senate and in the presidency. Fire the politicians at the next election, but voters don't have the freedom to fire the judges; therefore, we should not view judges, and we should not encourage the judges or public to view them, as ultimately politicians who hide behind their robes. The antidote to judicial activism is originalism.\nOriginalism, also known as textualism, is basically the old idea from eighth grade civics thatjudges don't get to make laws. Judges just apply them. An originalist comes to the court with a fundamental humility and modesty about what the job is that they are there to do. An originalist doesn't think of herself as a super legislator whose opinions will be read by angels from stone tablets in heaven. Judicial activism, on the other hand, is the bad idea that judges' black robes are just fake, and truthfully they are wearing red or blue partisan jerseys under there.\nWe should reject all such judges, and so today, when we have a nominee before us, we should be asking her questions that are not about trying to predetermine how certain cases will be judged. A final term that we should be clear about, I mentioned early but I think it's worth underscoring, is we should underscore what is court packing.\nCourt packing is the idea that we should blow up our shared civics, that we should end the deliberative structure of the Senate by making it just another majoritarian body for the purposes of packing the Supreme Court. Court packing would depend on the destruction of the full debate here in the Senate, and it is a partisan suicide bombing that would end the deliberative structure of the United States Senate, and make this job less interesting for all 100 of us, not for 47 or 53, because it's hard to get to a super majority that tries to protect the American people from 51-49, 49-51 swings all the time. What blowing up the filibuster would ultimately do is try to turn the Supreme Court into the ultimate super-legislature.\nCourt packing is not judicial reform, as some of you who wrote the memo over the weekend got the media to bite on.\nCourt packing destroying the system we have now. It is not reforming the system we have now, and anybody who uses the language that implies filling legitimate vacancies is just another form of court packing, that's playing the American people for fools.\nThe American people actually want a Washington D.C. that depoliticizes more decisions, not politicizes more decisions.\nSo, Judge, I am glad that you are before us. I am looking forward to hearing your opening statement later today, and I look forward to the questioning you have to endure over the next two or three days even though you probably look forward to it a little bit less.\nCongratulations and welcome.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0987416E-60C2-4918-BDBF-A71183D6ECAA", "Sasse Calls Court Packing Suicide Bombing of Two Branches of Government\"", "2020-10-11", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Watch the full interviewhere.\n\r\nToday, Senator Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Chris Wallace to discuss the upcoming hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, and condemn the Democrat's threat the blow up the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court.\r\n\"And it isn't just one branch of government. What they're really talking about is the suicide bombing of two branches of government. What they're talking about is blowing up the deliberative structure of the United States Senate by abolishing the filibuster and making it possible to turn the Senate into just another House of Representatives where every two years, by a 51-49 or 49-51 majority, major portions of American life change. And they're going about doing that to pack the Supreme Court.\"    \"The reason I think that Amy Barrett is a rock star and should be on the court is because she is very clear about her jurisprudence. She's an originalist and she is a textualist, which means when she puts on her black robe in the morning, she knows what it is to be a judge, and that is to cloak your personal preferences. Our judges don't wear red or blue jerseys, they don't advocate for policy positions and we shouldn't be having either Democrats or Republicans on the committee trying to figure out how can they divine the future of how they'll rule on particular cases.\"\r\nRushed transcript is available below:\r\nWALLACE: Joining me now, another member of the committee, Republican Senator Ben Sasse.Senator, let's start where I left off with Senator Coons. What do you make of Joe Biden's refusal to answer the question, if elected, will you change the number of justices on the Court? And do you think he can continue to hold out to that non-answer for the next three weeks?\nSASSE: Well, Chris, first of all, thanks for coming to Nebraska, glad to have you.\nIt's grotesque that Vice President Biden won't answer that really basic question. And it isn't just one branch of government, what they're really talking about or refusing to talk about, is the suicide bombing of two branches of government.\nWhat they're talking about is blowing up the deliberative structure of the United States Senate by abolishing the filibuster and making it possible to turn the Senate into just another House of Representatives where every two years by a 51-49 or 49-51 majority major portions of American life change. And they're going about doing that to pack the Supreme Court.\nThis language - I apologize to you Chris, you live -- we live right next to a Union Pacific mainline and you're about to hear America working as a big train is about to come by. So, I wanted to say -\n(CROSSTALK)\nWALLACE: That's right. We're going to --\nSASSE: -- I'll speak up just a little bit --\r\n(CROSSTALK)\nWALLACE: Right, well let me get to the next question ---- and I'll -- guys, cut Senator Sasse's mic while I ask the question and then we can hear him when he answers.\nI want to discuss some of the key issues that a Justice Barrett would confront on the court.\nBack in 2006, she signed a newspaper ad that called for overturning the, quote -- the words that she signed, barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade. Then as a judge, she voted to rehear cases where other judges in the Seventh Circuit struck down restrictions on abortion.\nSenator, aren't you counting on a Justice Barrett to either end or restrict a woman's right to abortion?\nSASSE: The reason I think that Amy Barrett is a rock star and should be on the court is because she is very clear about her jurisprudence. She's an originalist and she is a textualist, which means when she puts on her black robe in the morning, she knows what it is to be a judge, and that is to cloak your personal preferences.\nOur judges don't wear red or blue jerseys, they don't advocate for policy positions and we shouldn't be having either Democrats or Republicans on the committee trying to figure out how can they divine the future of how they'll rule on particular cases. This is the so-called Ginsburg rule historically by the way-- --\nWALLACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Senator -- Senator, you're -- Senator, with respect, you're being a little disingenuous here. You're very staunchly pro-life. That's a perfectly legitimate position to take, but aren't you in fact counting on Justice Barrett to either end or restrict Roe v. Wade? And wouldn't you be terribly disappointed if she failed to do that?\nSASSE: There are two different jobs, Chris. You're right, I'm pro-life and I stood for election before the voters of Nebraska and I get to do that again in 23 days and I asked them for their vote and I tell them my policy positions.\nIf Amy Barrett were running for the United States Senate from the state of Illinois, she would have policy positions that she'd layout to the American people. That isn't what a judge's job is.\nThe politicization of the court and some of -- Chris, I like Chris Coons, by the way, but some of his weirdly Orwellian language in that last segment claiming that court packing is filling open vacancies, that obviously isn't what court packing means, we have seen a politicization of the courts since Robert Bork in 1987, where the left wants to turn it into a super legislature to advance things that they can't get done through the electorate.\nThat is not what textualists want. I didn't say --\nWALLACE: And--\nSASSE: -- that isn't what conservatives want. That is not what people who know what a judge's job is should want.\r\n  WALLACE: All right. Then there is also Obamacare, which is particularly timely because the court will hear a lawsuit that is seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act the week after the election. I want to put up Barrett's history here.\nIn 2017, this is what Coons was referring to, Barrett wrote this, Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute back in a 2012 case.\nI mean, look, all we can judge a judge by -- a justice by is what they've said in the past. There's a reason that PresidentTrump chose her. There's a reason that you're going to be voting for her.Aren't you in fact counting on Justice Barrett to overturn the Obamacare Act?\nSASSE: So first of all, the 2012 case, the Roberts' opinion there, which I disagree with, is a different case than the case that's before the court now. And every time people have said they can predict how judges are going to rule in the future, they're almost always disappointed and wrong.\nAnd so obviously President Trump says a whole bunch of things and so he may say something that's more outcomes-based, but for those of us who sit on the committee or those of us who are making the judgment about how we'll vote in the United States Senate on Amy Barrett's nomination and her ultimate confirmation, is because of how she spells out what the job of a judge is. And that is not outcome-based.\nShe is a rock star jurist, there's nobody in the Notre Dame faculty, no matter where they are on the political spectrum, who've dissented from the fact that this woman is not just a great thinker, but she has the character to understand who a judge is, what their job is, and how you're humble in that calling. And that's why she was unanimously recommended by the Notre Dame faculty --\nWALLACE: Right.\nSASSE: -- including people whose politics are way to the left of mine.    WALLACE: Senator Sasse, thank you. Thanks for your time. Please come back and next time, hopefully, there won't be a freight train going through during the interview. Thank you, sir.\r\n  END", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.sasse.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=4DC39CB5-3674-4BAD-96B2-83DD1DCB452A", "Sasse Statement on Religious Liberty Win", "2020-10-10", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Ben Sasse", "S001197", "www.sasse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Ben Sasse issued the following statement after a federal judge ruled that the District of Columbia acted unlawfully by restricting worship services but not public protests during the coronavirus pandemic.\r\nThis is a win for the First Amendment. There are five freedoms in the First Amendment  religion, speech, press, assembly, and protest  and the government doesn't get to pick and choose. Bureaucrats can't say we like your protest, but we don't like your worship service.' This decision is good news for all Americans.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://adriansmith.house.gov/newsroom/columns/slashing-red-tape", "Slashing Red Tape", "2020-10-09", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Adrian Smith", "S001172", "adriansmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, 3,853 federal regulations were issued. While some regulations, such as those explaining how the executive branch will implement new laws or setting how much Medicare pays medical providers each year, are necessary, many merely pile new bureaucracy onto old in an effort to micromanage our nation from Washington. Fortunately, Congress has a mechanism to provide expedited consideration of disapproving of overreaching regulations, and in 2017 we passed and President Trump signed into law 14 bills repealing many of the most egregious overreaches of the outgoing Obama administration. The Trump Administration has also rolled back many of these regulations, such as Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, which we could not repeal legislatively because the resolutions were vetoed by President Obama.\nBefore the Trump administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found federal regulations cost our economy almost $2 trillion annually, and one of the key factors helping our economy boom prior to the pandemic was the reversal of these regulations. If we are going to return to an economy of record strength as we defeat this disease, we should continue finding ways to roll back regulations which create more problems than solutions.\nBecause the burden of regulations became so clear under President Obama, in 2014, I created a program called Regulation Rewind to work toward addressing the problem. This issue was clear to President Trump as well, and when he first took office he directed his administration to find ways to roll back two burdensome regulations for every new regulation created. He has delivered on that promise, and since 2019, he has gone above and beyond, cutting nearly eight regulations for every significant one.\nAn expanded and restored infrastructure will also spur our economy. However, instead of just throwing money at the problem, we should be looking for ways to streamline the cumbersome approval procedures to save money and speed up the process. Burdensome regulations slow down infrastructure projects to a crawl and the most frequent offender is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. Enacted 50 years ago, NEPA has long been in need of modernization. I have cosponsored the BUILDER ACT, which would codify President Trump's executive order to modernize and accelerate environmental reviews. This order implements a time limits of two years for completion of environmental impact statements and one year for the completion of environmental assessments. While two years is still a long time to wait for federal approval, this directive recognizes that communities shouldn't be forced to wait on needed projects solely because federal bureaucrats can't review paperwork in a timely fashion. It is time we give them flexibility to expand our nation's infrastructure while still protecting the environment we all cherish.\nIn order to bring our economy back, we need all hands on deck. Cutting regulations and a bloated bureaucracy will drive us in the right direction and allow for more opportunities and investments. 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