In Philadelphia 250 years ago, the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence and pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" to the cause of American self-governance.
From the beginning, service in Congress meant sacrifice. It meant risking your life, your livelihood, and your reputation to strengthen the nation.
Today, it seems too many forget that it's not about them.
Instead of risking their lives, too many stay there for life. Instead of pledging their fortunes, too many make a fortune. Instead of governing with sacred honor, too many operate without integrity.
While some members of Congress have 238% annual returns on their stock portfolios, everyday Americans choose between rent or groceries.
While Congress gets paid even when they fail to pass a budget and shut down our government, everyday Americans balance their own budgets every month.
And while some in Congress have had their jobs since the Reagan administration, everyday Americans struggle to find good-paying careers.
If Congress were meant to be a career, I would be late to the game. I'm running to serve the people of Nebraska's 2nd District and make your lives better.
In January, I put forward a plan to make America more affordable. As I have said on the campaign trail since last year, to make America more affordable, we must first make Washington more accountable.
Here's how:
First and foremost, we need to ban stock trading for members of Congress. Elected officials with access to classified information should not be trading stocks on that knowledge.
Unfortunately, this is one of the only bipartisan issues in Congress–both sides are guilty of it!
In Congress, I will introduce legislation to not only ban Congressional stock trading for members and their spouses but create an independent commission to investigate and make criminal referrals for those caught insider trading while in Congress.
Second, I will support "No Budget, No Pay" legislation so that when our government is shut down, Congress doesn't get paid.
If the military doesn't get paid because Congress can't do its most basic job —passing a budget —then Congress shouldn't get paid either. It's as simple as that.
And thirdly, our country is in desperate need of term limits for Congress. That said, we must be careful with our approach.
If we adopt term limits that are too short, we hand over control of Congress to the lobbyists, special interests, and bureaucrats who occupy the halls of the Capitol every day.
Seniority in Congress is important. We need leaders, especially Speakers, Senate Leaders, and Committee Chairs, who understand how the place works and can tell a lobbyist or bureaucrat to pound sand.
What we don't need is for people to be in Congress for their entire lives. Today, there are multiple members of Congress who were there when Ronald Reagan was president. That's 45 years ago!
As a realistic starting point, I propose an 18-year term limit — 9 House terms and 3 Senate terms. Long enough to learn the job and be part of the solution, but not long enough to become part of the problem.
By banning stock trading, we restore the notion that Congress has a fiduciary responsibility to the American people's stock portfolios–not their own. When Congress has an incentive to pass good policy for the American people, not for themselves, their reward will be at the ballot box, not their bank accounts.
By ending Congressional pay during shutdowns, we incentivize Congress to pass a budget on time. If Members of Congress want to play political games with the federal budget, they won't be paid while doing it.
And by finally implementing Congressional term limits, we eradicate the idea that Congress is a career and perpetually about the next election. We restore our founders' original intent that serving in Congress is just that: service.
With these reforms, we can fix the broken incentive structure in Washington and make the People's House work for the people again.