U.S. Representative Tracey Mann was in Hugoton at the Senior Citizens Center Wednesday, February 19 on his fourth annual 60 county Mann Listening Tour.

He informed the audience that there are 435 congressional districts and this area is called the big first district. The big first district is the eleventh largest and fifth largest that is not its own state. This district is in the top three in ag production every year, number one in beef production, number one for wheat production, number one for soybean production, number seven for corn and number 11 for dairy. Rep. Mann said in the District there are 60 counties, fifty-five hospitals and fifty-three critical access hospitals.

He talked about the country’s debt. The country is currently 36 trillion in debt. In 2010 the US was 13 trillion in debt and last year the country spent over one trillion just in interest payments.

Rep. Mann talked about President Trump and some of his plans which included securing the border and US energy production. He said it takes 12 to 15 years to secure permits to expand or build a power plant. He would like to work on speeding that process up. Rep. Mann said if Congress doesn’t act, taxes will go up at the end of this year. The Tax Cut Jobs Act President Trump implemented in 2017 will expire December 31, 2025.

To finish off the meeting, Rep. Mann answered questions from the audience.