By now, we’ve all heard the good news about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Each of them is roughly 95-percent effective against COVID-19, and they have both been approved by the FDA.
Over the past two weeks, I have met via video conference with winners of the Third District Excellence in Innovation and Adaptation Recognition (EIAR), as well as the Third District’s winner in this year’s Congressional App Challenge. While I prefer meeting with Nebraskans in person, being able to recognize Nebraskans who innovated in the face of a pandemic while using technology seemed entirely appropriate.
Lincoln – As of the morning of December 21, 8,985 Nebraskans had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since the first shipments began arriving in the state a week ago, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
2020 has been hard, hasn’t it? Hard situations, hard decisions, hard choices. Remote work and school were hard. My mom and grandpa had trips to the ER. Dropping them off at the door was hard. My grandpa died in August.
America is fortunate to have an excellent higher education system, and is home to many of the world’s greatest and most prestigious universities. During any given year, nearly 20 million Americans are enrolled in public and private colleges studying topics ranging from engineering to business to science. Nebraska in particular is proudly home to many world-class universities educating thousands of our young people. It is no wonder that Nebraska consistently ranks among the best states for higher education according to U.S. News and World Report.
At the end of November, Nebraska closed another successful deer hunting season. While hunting is a great benefit of our constitutional right to bear arms, it is not the primary reason our founders chose to specifically enumerate this protection in our Bill of Rights. Nationwide our Second Amendment rights continue to be under threat. In fact, ongoing attempts by the House majority to weaken our Second Amendment rights, not to mention possible future presidential actions, have destabilized the arms and ammunition markets causing widespread shortages and shocking prices for common hunting and self-defense firearms and ammunition.
Q: This is supposed to be the “feel good” season of the year. But to me it’s always just extra stressful for the whole family. How can we change that pattern?
2020 has been hard, hasn’t it? Hard situations, hard decisions, hard choices. Remote work and school were hard. My mom and grandpa had trips to the ER. Dropping them off at the door was hard. My grandpa died in August.
79 years after they lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor, two young men are coming home.
When I meet with hospitals and health care providers around Nebraska, both prior to and during the current pandemic, the impact of unnecessary regulations on their ability to provide care in rural areas is always at the top of their list of concerns. Over the last four years I have appreciated working with the Trump administration on these issues because of their persistent willingness to listen to rural Americans, take these concerns seriously, and act. We cannot afford to go in the other direction.