Janesville Gazette: Rep. Steil: America needs to get its previous way of life back

My priority is to get our way of life back. After a challenging two years, it's time to rip the Band-Aid off COVID-19-era policies and return to normal.

This means controlling runaway spending to stop rising prices and focusing on true priorities like protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering energy costs and keeping our communities safe. As we end pandemic policies that drove spending up, we need to find solutions that will help Americans live the good life.

Topping the list to get our way of life back is to get prices under control. Across the country, inflation is running at 7%, but here in the Midwest, we are being hit with a higher rate of 9%. Spending from Washington is contributing to rising prices, but wages are not keeping up, which is hurting working families. While inflation hurts everyone, it hits seniors on fixed incomes and low-income workers the hardest. For Wisconsin families, this is not sustainable.

Energy prices, including gas and home heating costs, have skyrocketed. On President Joe Biden's very first day in office I raised concerns with his immediate blockage of the Keystone XL pipeline and other policies that would discourage or stop North American energy production.

Unfortunately, my concern that these actions would lead to higher prices has become a reality. For the sake of working families trying to heat their homes, get to work and take their kids to school, we need to reverse these misguided policies and get back on the path to American energy independence.

Wasteful federal spending is not just driving up costs; it is threatening some of our most important federal programs.

Medicare and Social Security were under threat from a lack of funds before the pandemic. We cannot afford to continue to squander federal dollars on new and unnecessary programs when critical programs are at risk. Keeping our promise to seniors to maintain Social Security and Medicare is my priority. The federal government has made a promise to our seniors that we must keep.

In our nation's largest cities, including Milwaukee and Chicago, we have seen crime continue to increase. We have also seen an increase in drug overdoses and deaths this past year, some in part to the fentanyl coming across our porous southern border. Now more than ever, we need to support the men and women of law enforcement. I'm working to provide them the tools and resources necessary to perform their jobs and keep us safe.

I am a sponsor of several pieces of legislation to support our men and women in law enforcement. These include the Protect and Serve Act, which makes any attack on an officer a federal crime, and the Invest to Protect Act, legislation to make critical investments in our local police departments that provide the training and resources necessary to keep our communities safe.

As Washington remains dysfunctional, one area that I truly enjoy working on is providing assistance to those in our community who need help with the federal government.

The federal government is often too large and too bureaucratic, but sometimes I am able to help individuals who are jumping through hoops with federal agencies. Whether you are a person having a problem getting an appointment at the VA or working through a tax issue with the IRS, never hesitate to give me a call for help.

It has been a difficult two years, and I remain hopeful that in 2022 we can truly get our way of life back and return to normal.

Bryan Steil of Janesville represents Wisconsin's First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.