Dear Friend,

As we head into Thanksgiving, I hope all of you are able to enjoy time with family. Whether it’s around the dinner table, watching football, or FaceTiming with relatives, there are few weeks during the year better than this to reconnect with loved ones and give thanks for those who are most important to us.

Quickly recapping last week’s events in Washington; on Friday morning the House voted on President Biden’s trillion-dollar tax and spend legislation. This package, according to the Congressional Budget Office, adds hundreds of billions of dollars to our debt. This will only increase the inflationary pressures already hurting every American household.

Now is not the time to be imposing new taxes and new mandates on our job creators, yet President Biden and Speaker Pelosi aim to do just that in order to push an out-of-touch agenda that will lead to higher prices and more government involvement in the lives of the American people.

I was disappointed in the passage of this package and I hope my counterparts in the Senate will stop this dangerous and reckless spending package from making it to the President’s desk.

Read on for more updates…

Tips & Tricks for Thanksgiving

For those of you preparing the holiday meal this week – we compiled some helpful tips and tricks to avoid a food crisis!

Pets and Animals running through the house? Hosting the extended family with lots of people coming in from out of town? Start by cleaning your kitchen and utensils in order to keep bacteria out of your prep area. Wash your hands before, during and after you handle raw food.

Remember: Always separate foods. Keep raw meat and poultry separate from produce and cooked foods by using different cutting boards.

Never trust the “eye-test”. Make sure to cook everything thoroughly. Use a food thermometer to ensure your turkey is safe to eat. The recommended internal temperature must reach 165 F in three places: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the thigh and the innermost part of the wing.

Using a deep fryer? Be sure to set the fryer at least 10 feet away from your house, keep everything on a level surface, and remember: NEVER deep fry a frozen turkey.

Finally, chill your meal afterwards. Your food only has two hours before it becomes unsafe, and bacteria start to multiply. Make sure you put out just enough food for your guests and place the rest in your fridge.

For more tips, visit the USDA’s website HERE.

For more information, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or email MPHotline@usda.gov to reach a food safety expert or chat live at ask.usda.gov from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. If you need help on Thanksgiving Day, the hotline is available from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central Time.

The latest and greatest for our Ag Community 

Last week the Minnesota Farm Bureau elected a slate of new leaders, including a good friend and Sixth District resident Dan Glessing as Farm Bureau President. Dan, his wife Seena, and their entire family have been tremendous assets to me and my office since being elected. I want to wish Dan, Vice-President elect Carolyn Olson, Board Members Peter Bakken, Keith Allen and Miles Kuschel all a hearty congratulations, and once again thank Kevin Papp for his many years of service at the MNFB! I look forward to working with all of you to further our shared goals for the agriculture community.

Yesterday, I joined Mark Dorenkamp of Brownfield Ag Network to discuss harmful efforts by the Biden Administration to weaponize the Internal Revenue Service against small business owners, farmers, and average Americans.

President Biden’s trillion-dollar tax and spend plan included $80 billion for the IRS to hire tens of thousands of new IRS agents. The bill would expand the IRS’ “compliance and enforcement operations” in an effort to collect additional taxes from the American people to pay for their out of touch agenda. This provision will ultimately hit farmers, producers, and agricultural operations the hardest, and I will continue to fight against this egregious overreach. 

Read more about my work on agriculture here.

Until next week, if you are in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts with me, please write me an e-mail here.

To keep up with what we’re doing in Washington, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more updates!

Sincerely,