Nebraska has come through the pandemic stronger than any other state. We have the third-lowest mortality rate from COVID-19 among states. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.0%, which is tied for the lowest rate any state has ever achieved! Our state’s GDP grew 11.8% in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was the biggest increase in America by far. We were the sixth-best state for getting kids back in the classroom, which has given our children a number of learning and social advantages.

It was late August of 1999. I had just completed my first couple weeks at a new school and things were rough.

Now that the redistricting is over and we know what the boundaries are going to be, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. The new 44th district will include the southwest quarter of Perkins County, all of Chase, Dundy, Hitchcock, Hayes, Frontier, Gosper, and now a new addition, Dawson County. I’m still certainly willing to continue my relationship with my former constituents in Red Willow, Furnas and Harlan Counties. Since I have served those counties for the past 7 years I don’t expect a change in boundaries to change my relationships with those individuals or groups. I certainly am not trying to do anything different in Dawson County. The individuals in Dawson County that have a good relationship with Senator Williams, I would expect they would continue with that relationship, but if they do wish to reach out to me, as their current senator, I am more than happy to visit with them and help them with any issues they may be bringing forward.

When we think of Henry VIII most of us envision an oversized man with multiple wives, a bitter personality, and a propensity for beheading his enemies. A lesser-known fact is that he suffered with chronic leg sores the last twenty years of his life. Living in a time before antibiotics, anesthesia, and proper wound care, this king endured excruciating ulcers with no cure available. Would history have been different if his sores could have been treated with today’s advanced wound care?

Mandates I think it is important to tell my constituents where I stand on Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates. As you might imagine, I have received several calls and emails lately on this topic.

When you’ve got five kids in today’s world, sometimes you’re treated like that museum exhibit. Folks ask trivial questions like they’re investigating a rare artifact.

In medicine, we routinely ask people about their family health history. Knowing that your mother had diabetes, or that your grandfather battled alcoholism, helps us be alert for health conditions to which you may be predisposed. Sometimes, though, what is revealed by those histories isn’t a medical problem, but a family tragedy.

In the last couple years, I have developed a renewed awe and appreciation of our scientists around the world who work for entire careers to advance science and medicine in their laboratories and beyond. One such scientist is Dr. Barry Marshall. Marshall is an Australian physician scientist, who in the early 1980’s along with his cohort Dr. Robin Warren, initiated a paradigm shift in the world’s understanding of gastrointestinal disease when they discovered the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Prior to that, peptic ulcer disease was thought to be due entirely to lifestyle factors and stress. Marshall and Warren were ultimately able to show that H. pylori played a major role in maybe 80 percent of ulcers worldwide at that time. H. pylori is an unusual bacterium in that it can grow and thrive in a highly acidic environment like the stomach, and for that reason it was difficult to grow in culture. It was found to be widespread around the world, partly due to poor water sanitation systems. The bacteria can invade the surface of the stomach and duodenum, causing inflammation of the stomach or gastritis, ulcers, and rarely, stomach cancer. We now know that if H. pylori is a causative factor in a patient’s stomach ulcers, eradication of the bacteria is an essential part of curing the patient’s disease.

The last 18 months have been a roller coaster for the entire world. While many places have struggled, even in America, Nebraskans have come together to power through the pandemic. Our healthcare professionals have worked with compassion and skill to care for Nebraskans. Communities have supported their local businesses throughout the pandemic. Employers have overcome market disruptions to preserve and create jobs. Parents and schools worked to get kids back in the classroom. Our ag producers once again showed that they can be counted on to feed the nation and world. None of this has been easy, but Nebraskans have been up to the challenge.

As you know, we have just concluded the special legislative session to draw new boundary lines for the districts of five elected and one appointed group in our state; the House of Representatives, the Legislature, the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the State Board of Education, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, and the Nebraska Supreme Court. This decennial process is required by both the United States and Nebraska Constitutions on the heels of a U.S. census.