[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H286-H287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                   OUR BRIGHTEST DAYS ARE YET TO COME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Mann) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss my plans for 
representing the Big First District in the 118th Congress.
  As I have said on this House floor before, the Big First is the 
geographic center and the pilot light of America because there, the 
values that make America great are still alive and well: faith, family, 
freedom, and personal responsibility. We are farmers, ranchers, feed 
lot managers, businessowners, lenders, bankers, teachers, doctors, 
nurses, and parents.
  My job is to serve and advocate for the people of the Big First, 
which is why I am excited and grateful to have been appointed to the 
House Agriculture, House Transportation and Infrastructure, and House 
Small Business Committees.
  As a farm kid and a fifth-generation Kansan, I am honored to serve on 
the House Agriculture Committee again in the 118th Congress. 
Agriculture is the largest economic driver of the Big First. We rank 
number one in beef, wheat, and sorghum production. When I meet with 
farmers, ranchers, and agriculture producers, I hear about skyrocketing 
inflation and record-high input costs, labor shortages, government 
overreach, and the importance of reauthorizing the farm bill.
  We need well-crafted farm and food policy in America to remain secure 
as a Nation, and the reauthorization of the farm bill is an enormous 
responsibility. My priorities for that legislation remain the same: to 
protect and strengthen crop insurance, promote trade, and stop 
regulatory overreach. I am committed to rolling up my sleeves and 
working for the men and women who feed, fuel, and clothe the world.
  I am also honored to serve on the House Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee. The Big First has 83,000 miles of road, seven 
commercial airports, and more than 4,000 miles of railroad tracks. We 
rely on this system to get to work, take our kids to school, and 
deliver food, fuel, and fiber to the rest of the world.
  The people of the Big First deserve a voice on the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee and I am proud to be their spokesperson. A 
well-maintained, fiscally responsible infrastructure network supports 
economic activity, strengthens the supply chain, and helps America to 
remain a global power.
  During this Congress, I will also serve on the House Small Business 
Committee. The Big First is home to more than 200,000 small businesses 
which employ 80 percent of all employees in the district.
  Small businesses help drive the American economy and define the 
American dream. They add brick and mortar to the values that make our 
country unique, like freedom, self-determination, and the pursuit of 
happiness.
  As a child, I learned about the responsibility, drive, and 
decisionmaking skills required to run a small business from watching my 
parents operate our preconditioning feedlot and family farm. I will 
continue to defend and support small businesses, their owners, 
employees, and the American values that small businesses embody.
  I am honored to serve on these committees, and we have a lot of work 
to do. Over the next 2 years, we need to reauthorize the farm bill, 
develop new trade agreements with countries that will benefit American 
ag producers, and review the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act. 
We need to reauthorize FAA and the Water Resources Development Act, 
protect producers from a burdensome and overreaching definition of 
waters of the United States, and ensure that our small and regional 
airports have the support they need. We also need to maintain the 
stepped-up basis, return money to small businesses from IRS watchdogs, 
and ensure that small businesses have a fair shot at government 
contracts.
  I will be working on a wide variety of issues, but I am bringing the 
same approach to all of them. A Russell native, Senator Bob Dole once 
told me about the Kansas approach: honesty; hard work; respect for your 
roots; service; simplicity; genuine, thoughtful care for people; and 
just plain common sense.
  I learned these Kansan conservative values as a kid in the Big First, 
they inspire my work today on all my committees, and they will always 
guide my steps here in Congress.
  Ultimately, I believe that with prayer and hard work, our brightest 
days are yet to come.

[[Page H287]]

  

                          ____________________