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To accompany spring cleaning, it’s about time we drop in on our Washington quintet to see what they are thinking about a variety of subjects, what with a war, gas prices and a couple reelection campaigns on inquiring minds. Ergo, welcome to our periodic and wholly hypothetical news conference, held every few months lest Nebraska’s Congressional delegation forgets we’re out here, moving it down the line and keeping the home fires burning.
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Without further ado … or idiom, we have some questions:
- Before a tenuous ceasefire went into effect in the war with Iran, the president threatened the Iranian people, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight.” He also promised to bomb their power plants, designated in the Geneva Conventions of 1977 as a war crime. The underlying premise of both the threat and the target go against International Humanitarian Law. Some have argued that such language is essentially a tactic. Even supposing that’s true, describe your comfort level with such “strategy,” given that the country’s dispute is with Iran’s regime and not its people, who would bear the brunt of such an attack or have to live in fear of it.
- Please explain the U.S.’s tactical and political partnership with Israel as it relates to prosecuting war or creating peace with Iran and Israel’s continued devastation of Lebanon. Do we all agree? If not, where do we draw the line? Are our interests in the Middle East the same as Israel’s?
- What would victory look like in the war with Iran? What is the feasibility of your vision?
- Consumer prices rose 3.3% last month, the highest rate since April of 2024 and up from February’s 2.4%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that gas prices, which represent about three-quarters of the CPI increase, jumped 21% in just 30 days. We ask you this often, but surely your constituents want to know your thinking. What is Congress’s role in fighting inflation and how are you, individually, fulfilling that responsibility?
- A number of countries including Australia, France, Greece, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, have either banned social media for children under 16 or are in the planning stages of doing so. The U.K., Canada and Norway are also exploring ways to reduce access for young children. Coupled with a recent court ruling that said tech companies are not only responsible for the content they make available to children, their site designs are addictive, creating the potential for serious mental health issues. Given these recent developments, aside from agreeing with the obvious — inappropriate content should be kept from children — what concrete ideas do you have to address and combat the negatives of social media?
- Any word on what the Department of Justice is doing with Nebraskans’ voter registration data? Have you asked?
- I’m guessing you cheered as did thousands of Nebraskans when Artemis II safely splashed in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego last week. As you know, the crew of four traveled farther from the earth than any humans before them, a remarkable achievement. Given that this administration and those trying to mimic it remain hostile to anything remotely associated with what it deems DEI — diversity, equity, inclusion — please weigh in on the obvious: That because of race and gender, too many still view the inclusion of half of those in Artemis II’s cockpit as suspect or worse, wrong.
- Bear with me. I have numbers. The total count of detainees in the nation’s “detention” camps for those swept up in ICE and CBP raids is about 70,000. Nearly three of every four of them have no criminal record. Before we went to the ballot box in 2024, the campaign promise was that only violent criminals were to be targeted for detaining and deporting. Estimates for the administration’s first year put deportation numbers at 400,000 to 500,000. Those approximations are no more or no less than under President Obama, who deported more people than any other president, over 3 million during his two terms. Given those numbers and the current reality of continued ICE and CBP raids, can you explain what are we doing here? Polling suggests most Americans are dissatisfied with the current immigration “system,” if we can call it that. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 60% of respondents think current policies are too harsh and only 35% think current policies make us safer. Isn’t it incumbent on Congress to do some heavy lifting and address comprehensive immigration reform? If not, why? If so, what is the plan?
- Finally, do you remember the vote in December to release all the “Epstein Files,” a law on which your name appears as a “yes?” I ask because it appears no one out here has forgotten.
