[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H333-H334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MIDDLE OF IT ALL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Mann) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I am humbled to deliver my first speech on the 
House floor today and discuss the future of our great Nation.
  I grew up on a farm south of Quinter, Kansas, that my parents and 
brother still operate. The house my parents live in, and the house I 
grew up in, is the same house my great-great-grandfather ordered from a 
Montgomery Ward catalog in the early 1900s.
  Growing up there meant I spent thousands of hours on a tractor 
working in the fields and on horseback doctoring cattle in the family 
feed yard. Those hours turned into love of country and lessons about 
the value of hard work.
  My Kansas roots run deep, and my desire to serve our country is wider 
than a country mile. I ran for Congress to advocate for agriculture and 
our conservative Kansas values. Kansans are good people who carry a 
pioneering spirit with them, in the same way those who settled my State 
did over 160 years ago.
  The people of Kansas 1, the Big First, know each other, look out for 
each other, and sacrifice for each other. The district is home to more 
than 60,000 farms and is made up of farmers, ranchers, feedlot 
managers, nutritionists, ethanol producers, ag lenders, and 
agribusiness owners who feed, fuel, and clothe the world.
  As Congress becomes increasingly more urban, the distance from farm 
to fork has never been greater, and the Big First depends on strong 
voices for agriculture in Congress. That is why I am honored to serve 
on the House Agriculture Committee.
  At the very top center of the Big First sits Lebanon, Kansas, a 
seemingly ordinary small town. About 2\1/2\ miles northwest of Lebanon 
is the exact middle of the contiguous 48 States. A few months ago, a 
group of us met in Lebanon and prayed for our Nation and that God's 
will would be done and that our future would be bright.
  There is something about being in the middle of the country where 
farmers pray for rain, parents drive 30 miles one way to take their 
kids to school, and communities shrink and grow with oil and gas prices 
that gives you a great perspective. To really be in the middle of it 
all, though, we must demand results.
  I have received many calls from family farmers in the Big First 
gravely concerned with President Biden's executive order restricting 
travel from countries like South Africa, where many of our legal 
farmworkers come from during harvest. I will tell you, if an issue 
matters to a Kansan, it matters to me.
  I worked with a number of my colleagues here to issue a letter to 
President Biden, asking that he exempt essential workers, like those in 
agriculture, from his travel ban. Soon after, we were told the 
President would grant the exemption. But to me, an exemption to an 
overreaching executive order is not enough.
  After watching President Biden issue 25 executive orders in his first 
10 days as President, more than the last seven Presidents combined 
during their first 10 days, I decided I could no longer sit idle and 
watch executive orders dictate the direction of this country with no 
input from Congress. The executive branch was not created to 
legislate--Congress was.
  We are now up to 42 executive orders from the Biden White House. That 
is why, earlier this week, I introduced the More Accountability is 
Necessary Now acts, six pieces of legislation promoting accountability 
and transparency to the administration's future executive orders.
  The MANN acts require that the executive branch notify the American 
public and Congress of its intent to issue any new executive orders 
pertaining to agriculture, energy, the environment, pro-life 
provisions, the Second Amendment, and immigration.
  The short-term impact of legislation like this would be to hold our 
elected leaders more accountable. But for the long term, we must never 
forget that America is the greatest and most noble experiment that has 
ever been endeavored.
  When our Founding Fathers used the three words ``by their Creator'' 
245 years ago, they unleashed freedom on humanity, because for the 
first time in history, people stood up and declared that freedoms do 
not flow from a king or government; they flow from God.
  The power of that truth can never be stomped out because it rings 
loudly in the hearts and minds of Americans from coast to coast and 
certainly in the Big First, which in many ways is the pilot light of 
America. In my district, the basic values of faith, family, and freedom 
are alive and well. It is our responsibility to never let that light go 
out.

                              {time}  1100

  I believe that when we get into the middle of issues, roll up our 
sleeves, get to work, and do the heavy lifting, we gain better 
perspectives and better results. Being in the middle of it all instead 
of being stapled to our desks in Washington, D.C., makes us all better 
and is good for America.
  Get in the middle of it. Stand face to face and engage. Spend time to 
think, pray, and reflect, like I did that day in the exact center of 
the country. I promise you will gain a better understanding of where we 
need to go as a nation.
  I did not run for Congress to be a caretaker in the slow demise of 
America. I ran so I could fight and work to

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make it stronger. That is what I intend to do while believing that our 
brightest days are yet to come.

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