{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fortenberry.house.gov/media-center/fort-reports/fort-report-kitchen-drawer", "Fort Report: The Kitchen Drawer", "2015-12-11", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Jeff Fortenberry", "F000449", "fortenberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In my house, there is a drawer in the kitchen full of disorganized stuff. Im sure you have one too. Most of us have experienced the frustration of rummaging around for rubber bands, paperclips, a nail to hang a picture, or batteries for the flashlight. Finding anything requires digging through the mess. However, something else of value usually turns up unexpectedly.\nIn the midst of all the policy discussions, inertia, and errors, the messy kitchen drawer of Congress recently yielded some important outcomes.\nFirst, the House and Senate passedand the President signedlegislation called the Every Student Succeeds Act. From my perspective the federal government should substantively remove itself from the education business altogether, which is properly the domain of parents and local communities. A homogenized and centralized approach can create one-size-fits all educational policy that does not adequately accommodate the needs of individual students with different gifts and interests. This new measure addresses concerns voiced by educators about excessive federally-mandated testing in public schools, ushering in a new era of flexibility, creative education, and local control. Educational successes occur when families, school districts, and states are allowed flexibility to implement policies that are appropriate for their children. This bill effectively ends the ill-suited No Child Left Behind bureaucratic approach.\nSecond, Congress has approved a surface transportation bill, better known as the highway bill, providing necessary support for our nations highways and bridges. This long-term surface transportation bill is needed to address important safety, economic development, and traffic congestion problems throughout the country, establishing funding certainty for the next five years. While there are concerns, particularly regarding the revenue sources, it was a necessary compromise to keep this part of America moving.\nIn the past, when gas was around $4 a gallon, I proposed dedicating a percentage of any future price drop to the highway trust fund. Oddly, the idea was rejected as a tax increase, even though it is difficult to understand how a dedication of a portion of savings is the same as increasing taxes. If my proposal had been explored, substantial increases in the trust fund could have been achieved, perhaps avoiding future funding problems.\nThird, the House passed the Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act. The United States has trusted relationships with many countries around the world, and the visa waiver program is an important tool to invite visitors from these nations to our homeland. Unfortunately, the program also has loopholes that could pose national security threats. As many as 5,000 people from Europe have traveled to Iraq and Syria, and they could enter the United States through the visa program without proper scrutiny. The recent Paris attackers had passports that could have allowed them into the United States. The Visa Waiver Program Improvement & Terrorist Travel Prevention Act is an important step toward fixing such loopholes and strengthening our national security. Others are needed, and a wide array of immigration proposals are under discussion.\nThere is much justifiable anxiety and fear regarding the security of our country. The first duty of the government is to keep you safe. In the midst of messy policy debates ranging from the budget to immigration, a few things in the drawer got organized.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fortenberry.house.gov/media-center/fort-reports/fort-report-kitchen-drawer"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9237178601324558, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}