THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Sen. Mike Johanns

It’s hard to believe another year has passed as your United States Senator. I want to thank you again for the privilege to serve our great state and also thank all who took the time to write, email, call and meet with me in person throughout 2013. From all 93 counties, your voices have been a guiding force for me in the Senate.
There was a lot of action in Washington this year, but fewer things made a bigger splash than the abysmal performance of Obamacare.  I held a number of health care roundtables in 2013, and the resounding message from both patients and doctors in our state is that the law is doing more harm than good. These sentiments are strongly echoed on the webpage I launched for you to share Obamacare stories. I continue to believe that full repeal of Obamacare is the best option, but in the meantime, I have introduced and sponsored a number of bills to ease the law’s heavy burdens on American families and small businesses. My legislation to repeal the law’s new restrictions on health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible savings accounts (FSA) passed unanimously in the Senate in March and would allow families to plan for health care costs with the flexibility they’ve always enjoyed without the heavy hand of government getting in the way.
In Nebraska, sound ag policy has been another priority. Our farmers and ranchers are the backbone of our economy, and as a member of the Senate Ag Committee, I continue to seek ways to help them – and by extension our state – thrive and grow. I’ve been actively engaged in the current farm bill process, championing market and trade-friendly policies that would give our farmers and ranchers the best framework to ensure success in a global market. A long-term, five-year farm bill is currently being negotiated between the House and Senate, and I’m confident a final bill will be unveiled in January.
I continue to fight to protect farmers and ranchers from the Administration’s aggressive regulatory agenda. Most recently, I called on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to back off its assault on small, family-run farms. OSHA ignored Congressional direction exempting small farms from its regulations and is attempting to stick a Holt County farm with more than $130,000 in fines.
Housing finance reform is another important measure I’ve been working on this year. This summer, I joined a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing a bill to reform the broken system. Our bill would replace government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which now finance a majority of mortgages, with a privately capitalized system that keeps the market moving while ensuring taxpayers are never again on the hook for future bailouts. Since introducing our bill, the House has also moved forward on this issue and President Obama has signaled support for our plan. I’m pleased to see this effort gaining traction in Washington.
Of all my duties as a legislator, nothing brings me more joy than recognizing Nebraskans for their accomplishments. This year I nominated the Blue Hill heroes for the “Citizens Service Before Self Honors,” for courageously risking their own lives to rescue children from a burning bus. And, I helped make sure two Nebraska veterans received the honors they deserved. Vietnam veteran David Lehn had been waiting almost three years for medals earned during two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy and the family of World War II veteran Joe Alberico, who was killed in action, was denied issuance of medals 70 years ago despite having all the paperwork. Helping with these issues was nothing short of a privilege.
I also recognized the Nisly family of Beaver Crossing as 2013 ‘Angels in Adoption.’ Over the past two decades, the Nislys selflessly opened their home to foster children, 9 of which they’ve adopted as their own.  A tenth is in the process of being adopted.
I hope recognizing and honoring these selfless acts of love and bravery reminds everyone what is possible when we open our hearts to others.
We dealt with many important issues this year, and I invite you to visit my website at johanns.senate.gov for a full report. I expect another full year ahead and look forward to hearing from you in 2014.