The Superior Express -

Nebraska Senator Deb. Fischer was a lunch guest of the Nuckolls County Republicans at the Superior Estates Winery Monday noon.

But the senator had to work for her meal. She was asked to speak about current affairs and update the local residents on what is happening in Washington.

Currently in Nebraska during the U. S. Senate’s Easter recess, Fischer noted she is in the state most weekends. Her Washington office is about a 20 minute drive from the airport and most Thursdays she takes a direct Southwest Airlines flight to Omaha. Sunday evening she returns to Washington.

In her travels about Nebraska, she has identified several tops issues of concern for her constituents,

The top concern for Nebraskans are the open borders and the illegal immigrants pouring into the country. The senator said the immigrants were a national security issue that needs to be addressed.

The second concern had been inflation but this has changed and is now China. The Chinese balloon which last year drifted over Nebraska without notice was responsible for much of the change. Fischer noted China is expanding its military at a breathtaking speed and told those present if they were users of the internet platform of Tik-Tok to get off as China was using it as a vacuum to suck up information about Americans.

Also of concern was the Chinese purchase of farm land near military installations.

The senator also fielded questions from those present.

The questions dealt with such issues as voter integrity, immigration, ethanol, the farm bill, the push for electric vehicles, inheritance tax, and the federal budget.

With regard to elections, Fischer said she believed it was the responsibility of the states, not the federal government, to conduct elections. She said the census should not be counting illegal immigrants as the seats in the House of Repre-sentatives were determined by pop-ulation.

She noted there was good news with regard to ethanol. Big oil was beginning to support ethanol development.

The senator said she supported the repeal of the inheritance tax but there was lots of opposition to that proposal.

She said the farm bill was incorrectly named as most of the money in the bill went for welfare programs. While some have opposed splitting the two, it is her belief they should be split. According to Fischer, every state has agriculture and she believes a separate agriculture bill would be supported. Of the nearly $1.5 trillion cost of the current ag bill, $1.3 billion is for welfare related programs.

The senator said those supporting the increase use of electric vehicles are ignoring the science and the problems associated with electric vehicles.

With regard to the budget, she said it is time to wake up Washington. Priorities must be set and national security should be the first priority of the federal budget.

When it comes to reducing the federal budget, she asked those present, “What federal programs are you willing to give up?”