By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, answered questions at his town hall in Hays. He discussed local, state, and national issues related to the Biden Administration.
Held at the Hays Public Library, 1205 Main St., it was one of the 11 town halls Mann hosted as part of his annual 60-county Mann Listening Tour.
His Wednesday visit allowed several community members to speak directly to Mann about the issues most important to them.
"Every congressional district is different," Mann said. "[The Big First District] is a phenomenal district, and it's an honor to represent it."
Kansas's Big First District is comprised of 61 counties, stretching from the western part of the state to include Jackson, Jefferson, Dickinson, Reno and Clark County.
Mann focused on various topics, starting with Kansas agriculture and the preservation of the stepped-up basis, which allows farmland and small businesses to be passed from one generation to the next with an increase in the tax base.
In a 2023 press release, Congressman Mann said the Biden Administration's budget proposal aims to eliminate the tax provision for agricultural producers and small business owners.
Mann said the provision has been a long-standing law, and losing it could negatively impact the district. He continues his three-year-long effort to preserve it.
"I've taken the lead in Congress in fighting the fight to maintain the stepped-up basis," he said.
Mann also discussed the Farm Bill, a policy that oversees the food supply, including nutrition programs, production and crop insurance.
In response to an attendee's question, Mann said an obstacle to passing the Farm Bill is the Chairwoman of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Debbie Stabenow, who remains unmoved, Mann said.
Mann said that with the nation's $34 trillion in debt, he has voted against major spending bills like the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.
According to Mann, the combined costs of the two bills amounted to $4 trillion. He said the current spending rate is wrong.
In the 2024 fiscal year, for the first time, interest payments on the national debt will exceed a trillion dollars while $860 billion is allocated for national defense.
"We cannot continue to spend money like we are federally and think that we're not going to reap the consequences of that," he said.
Having led a congressional trip to the border, Mann said legal immigration should be made easier while illegal immigration should be more difficult.
On May 15, Mann addressed the U.S. House of Representatives, criticizing the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats for their handling of the southern border in a speech.
"This wide open southern border makes no sense at all," he said. "We don't know who they are, where they're going, where they're from. We just know that they're here."
Mann said his concern about the border comes from national security, drug trafficking and human trafficking issues.
An attendee asked about the reactions in Washington, D.C., concerning President Joe Biden's cognitive state following his debate with former President Donald Trump on CNN.
Mann said there are discussions within the Democratic Party about replacing Biden with a different candidate, but he emphasized the importance of national unity.
"Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you don't necessarily have to hope that the President is who you like, but you want your president to do well. When the President is doing well, the country is doing well. If the president is not doing well, the country is not doing well," Mann said.
Mann is a fifth-generation Kansan born and raised just south of Quinter. He has represented Kansas's "Big First" District in the U.S. House of Representatives since January 2021.
Mann also serves on the House Agriculture, House Transportation and Infrastructure and House Small Business committees.
You can learn more about Representative Tracey Mann on his website.