[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 144 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3764-H3765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                           NO PLACE LIKE HOME

  (Mr. Mann of Kansas was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, over the August in-district work period, I had 
the privilege of meeting with Kansans all across our district, from 
Salina to Great Bend, Hutch to WaKeeney, Hoxie to Jetmore, Hays to Hill 
City.
  It is the honor of my life to represent the Big First District of 
Kansas in Congress, and I was grateful to spend time with Kansans while 
I was able to be home. For the fifth year in a row, I visited all 60 
counties in the Big First District, and I had the chance to hear about 
the impacts the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will make on our families 
and communities.
  As I visited companies and families across the Big First District, 
stop after stop, my fellow Kansans expressed their appreciation for the 
wins the bill delivered for Kansas families. They are relieved that we 
were able to prevent the largest tax hike in American history for 
working- and middle-class families. They are grateful to have a 
Congress and White House that embrace pro-family policies and our 
commitments to doubling the child tax credit and expanding 529 
education savings accounts. These are commonsense policies that promote 
and strengthen families across the Nation, and they are yet another 
promise made and promise kept.
  Small business owners and family farms shared how monumental our 
legislation is for their families. We were able to make the 199A small-
business deduction permanent, allowing agricultural and small business 
families to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. Farm families were 
relieved that they no longer have to fear being forced to sell land 
when they lose a loved one. By expanding the death tax exemption, we 
brought the tax code in line with today's farm economy and allowed more 
farm families to keep their operations in the family. This is life-
changing for millions of families across the country and throughout the 
Big First District.
  Farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers were also grateful that 
our legislation restored a decades-old standard that exempts the value 
of assets found on family farms and small businesses from being 
assessed as part of a family's net worth.
  Over the past few years, net farm income has decreased by nearly 25 
percent. When young people from these families are applying for higher 
education financial aid, the assets tied up in the family farm or the 
small business should not count against them.

[[Page H3765]]

Our bill makes their lives easier, not harder, by leveling the playing 
field for these students and families while protecting the American 
Dream for every student, regardless of their parents' careers.
  Our farmers were also deeply grateful for the commonsense provisions 
that ensure our tax incentives benefit American-grown products and 
American farmers, not foreign producers. By extending the 45Z tax 
credit and limiting eligibility to domestic feedstocks, this majority 
delivered long-term certainty for American agriculture.
  Kansas farmers started the year needing a new farm bill that meets 
the needs of today and not 6 years ago. Last year, Congressional 
Democrats held farm country hostage and chose to play political games 
rather than work with congressional Republicans to pass a new 5-year 
farm bill.
  In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, our Republican majority answered 
rural America's call by updating reference prices, doubling investments 
into crucial trade promotion programs like MAP and FMD, and expanding 
crop insurance. These are all commonsense policies that allow our 
farmers to feed, fuel, and clothe the world without the fear of losing 
everything because of a bad crop year. This legislation was life-
changing for the agricultural families in my district.
  Mr. Speaker, our work is cut out for us in the weeks ahead. The One 
Big Beautiful Bill Act has shown what this majority can do for the 
country, and we ought to build on that momentum by passing policies 
that promote safety in American communities, continue to strengthen 
American agriculture, and steward American taxpayer dollars responsibly 
while cutting wasteful spending. I look forward to working with this 
majority to deliver on these promises. I am excited to see all that we 
can do in the next 4 months.

                          ____________________