Congressman Tim Huelskamp

Dear Friend,

Angela, our four children, and I spent Independence Day in a couple of places throughout Kansas. The day began in Junction City, where we took part in the town’s Sundown Salute parade. Before the parade kicked off, we were honored to meet Brigadier General Donald MacWillie, Senior Commander at Fort Riley. Following the parade, my family and I heard Brig. Gen. MacWillie speak at the Veterans’ Ceremony in Heritage Park (pictured below). Later in the day, we took part in Wamego’s 141st Annual Independence Day Parade.

As we reflect on this Independence Day, let us never forget that those of us who live in America are truly blessed. There are many places across the globe where governments care next to nothing about protecting individual rights and liberties. There are many places where freedom of speech is nonexistent, where individuals have neither the right nor the ability to petition their government or to express grievances against their leaders, or where either you comply with the government’s choice of religion or face serious consequences. There are many places where the people do not consent to be governed, but are ruled under dictatorial and oppressive regimes. We must pray that someday all mankind will be free and as fortunate as we are.

But as we seek advancement of freedoms for those far away, we must be ever vigilant in guarding our rights as individuals. We must be ever vigilant in reminding government that its power is limited. Whether it is ensuring that people of faith who have moral objections to abortion, contraception and abortion drugs are not forced to pay for them in the President’s health care law or protecting our service members and chaplains from being punished for expressing their sincerely-held religious views, we must never become complacent in defending the first of the First Amendment rights. Or any other of our rights for that matter!

Farm Bill Markup This Week

On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee will begin to markup the next Farm Bill. This past Thursday, Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson released the House version, which I invite you to explore here. As you can tell, it is a lengthy piece of legislation, so staff and I will be going through the bill page-by-page, line-by-line to ensure that not only our farmers and ranchers are protected, but that taxpayers are as well. As you have probably read here in these updates, I am very concerned that about 80 cents out of every dollar of the Farm Bill actually goes toward nutrition assistance and food stamp programs. These expenditures have exploded over the course of the past decade, with now 46 million Americans using some sort of food stamp program. I believe that those who truly need help should receive assistance, but it is unfair to the taxpayers to see programs like these grow and grow without complete accountability and proven results. On our first glance of this Farm Bill, I see that there is $16 billion in food stamp savings – a marked improvement over the Senate’s version that cuts just $4.5 billion over the next decade. Still, I will make sure that no rock goes unturned in rooting out fraud, waste, abuse, and other forms of unnecessary spending.

Your Staff – On the Road!

The Big First is quite large, and I know it can be difficult for you to get to our District Offices in Salina, Hutchinson, and Dodge City. Knowing this, our staff will be available in 46 counties across the First District in July. If you are in need of assistance in cutting through the red tape at a federal agency, they are here to help. Please bring any relevant paperwork to one of these local office hours (listed below), and our staff can help you to cut through the red tape with Medicare, VA, Social Security, the IRS, and other federal agencies. If you want to stop by and simply share your thoughts and ideas about issues facing our nation, you are invited to stop by and provide your feedback and priorities. Your staff are here to serve you, so please let us know how we can help.

Local Office Hours

Sincerely,

Tim Huelskamp
Member of Congress