Weekly Columns and Op-Eds
Over 80 million acres of forests in the United States are overgrown and undermanaged, primarily due to burdensome federal regulations. These conditions are the kindling to the wildfires that ravage our lands every year, a challenge Central Washington is certainly no stranger to. For far too long, the federal government has cast massive, one-size-fits-all rules and regulations on forest management and put those that deal with disasters at a serious disadvantage. That is all beginning to change now.
The last four years of inaction at the southern border resulted in over 10 million illegal immigrant encounters nationwide and a record-high number of violent, illegal criminals encountered throughout the United States. By terminating catch-and-release policies, ending the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program and a full stop on construction of the border wall, President Biden and Vice President Harris have created a crisis that now permeates through the entire country.
This week marks the beginning of the 119th Congress and just the third time in the last 70 years that Republicans have controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House. Over the past four years, we have had an administration that sidestepped Congress and wielded the executive branch to tighten the federal government’s grip on taxpayers, small businesses, farmers and ranchers, and countless other industries while pushing inflation to record levels.
