Friends,

I had a busy week back home in Kansas, crisscrossing our Second District meeting with the people I’m blessed to represent. After weeks in Washington, there’s nothing better than being able to spend time back home with Kansans.

This week I spoke at the Greater Topeka Partnership’s Legislative Luncheon.

I highlighted the latest news from Washington, DC, with a specific focus on taxes and tariffs. A failure by Congress to extend President Trump’s highly successful 2017 tax cuts would be a disaster for every family and small business in Kansas and across the country. Getting the tax, spending, border security, defense, and debt limit package that allows us to extend these cuts across the finish line is one of my top priorities.

The President has repeatedly stressed how important protecting and strengthening domestic manufacturing is to him and his administration. As he said would be the case, tariffs are one tool the President is using to accomplish this goal. I remain confident that his economic plan will continue to yield large investments in our nation while benefiting important Kansas industries like agriculture and aviation, and at the same time I’m keeping close watch on how tariffs and the response to them are affecting U.S. exporters and consumer prices.

Connecting with local businesses, community leaders, and state & local officials is the best way to ensure the federal government is being a good partner to our communities here in the Second District. Thank you to everyone who hosted us or attended; I truly appreciate it!

Human trafficking remains a widespread crisis in the United States. As Kansas’s top law enforcement official for more than a decade, I know firsthand the effects of trafficking last long past the time victims are removed from trafficking. Unfortunately, victims are sometime convicted of crimes such as financial fraud, drug-related offenses, and identity theft that they were forced or coerced into committing by their traffickers.

As we work to end the scourge of human trafficking in Kansas and across our country, we must also ensure we’re adequately caring for the survivors. That’s why I joined Representatives Russell Fry from South Carolina, Ann Wagner from Missouri, and Ted Lieu & Robert Garcia from California to cosponsor the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act.

Crimes committed by trafficking victims due to threats and coercion should be considered differently by federal courts; this legislation would establish an affirmative defense to provide survivors with the opportunity to defend against charges that arose directly from their being trafficked.

Importantly, for a court to grant a motion to vacate a conviction or expunge an arrest, a defendant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the offense was committed as a direct result of having been a victim of trafficking. Additionally, the defendant must establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant was a victim of human trafficking at the time the offense was committed.

I visited Washburn University, where I joined Law School Dean Jeff Jackson to tour the recently opened Robert J. Dole Hall.

The state-of-the-art facility opened two years ago to house Washburn’s law school, which has been producing practice-ready lawyers for more than 100 years. After receiving an in-depth tour, I can attest that the building is a fitting tribute to Washburn alumnus and great Kansan Bob Dole.

Thank you to Washburn University President JuliAnn Mazachek – who’s been a leader at Washburn and in our Topeka community for 30 years – for showing me around campus. We’re lucky to have such a prestigious university right here in the Second District.

“Sanctuary city” policies have been in the news a lot over the past few years. These jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with federal authorities in the deportation of illegal aliens. For example, if an illegal alien is arrested for a crime unrelated to their immigration status, local and state sanctuary city policies can prevent law enforcement from notifying federal authorities of their arrest. Even if federal immigration officials become aware of the arrest, the sanctuary city authorities don’t alert Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when an individual is being released, even if ICE requests they do so. This can – and often does – result in criminal illegal migrants traveling to other states and committing additional crimes. I think most Kansans would agree these policies are absurd.

Our House Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing on this subject, where I highlighted how these far-left, out of touch policies have real world impacts.

Thankfully, we saw the dangers of sanctuary jurisdictions and banned the practice statewide in Kansas in 2022. Unfortunately, not every state is as commonsense as ours, and sanctuary city policies are still in place in Massachusetts, California, and many places in between.

The American people made their voices heard in November when they indicated they were tired of open borders and nationwide chaos. I hope state and local lawmakers listen to them.

I’ll be back in Washington next week as Congress continues to do the important work of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse out of the federal government and slowing the rate of overspending that’s threatening to saddle generations to come with insurmountable debt. This is a real chance for us to make a lasting difference; I’m working to ensure we don’t waste it.