No Place Like Home

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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. 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.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source