Fourth District Focus: My tour of Nor-Am Cold Storage in Le Mars
Since I was first elected, I have traveled to every county in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District at least twice a year. It’s a commitment that I made to my constituents that I would be transparent and accessible while taking their concerns, ideas, and suggestions back to Congress and offering meaningful solutions to the problems facing our communities, state, and nation.
Over the years, I have made many stops in Plymouth County to meet with Iowans and listen to their thoughts and concerns. In 2021, I visited SmithCo Side Dump Trailers in Le Mars to talk about domestic manufacturing and attended the Plymouth County Pork Producers banquet. In 2022, I toured Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars where I met with healthcare workers and hospital officials about the importance of making high-quality, affordable care accessible for our families and stopped by the Plymouth County Fair where I caught up with farmers and chatted about agriculture policy. In 2023, I spoke to FFA students at Akron-Westfield High School and toured Blue Bunny and, earlier this year, I visited Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative in Le Mars and discussed my strong support for an “all-of-the-above” American energy strategy that promotes reliability, affordability, and energy independence.
Just the other week, on September 5th, I kept my commitment of traveling the district by touring Nor-Am Cold Storage in Le Mars as part of my 36 County Tour and my Feenstra Agriculture Tour. I was not only impressed with their state-of-the-art facility, but also glad to hear that they employ 600 people across seven states. Businesses like Nor-Am are critical components of our rural communities and the vitality of our economy in Iowa.
During my visit, I also had the chance to talk about my Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports Act – or FRIDGE Act for short. This legislation – which is included in the Farm Bill that we passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in May – will help our farmers and producers gain access to new export markets. More specifically, it will support construction of refrigeration infrastructure and port improvements domestically and internationally so that we can ship our perishable commodities worldwide. Our beef, chicken, turkey, and pork producers should not be limited to only selling their products locally. They should have the opportunity to deliver their products globally and investments in cold storage will be a game changer for our agricultural producers.
Meeting with Iowa farmers and producers on my 36 County Tour and Feenstra Agriculture Tour, I repeatedly hear that opening new export markets for agricultural goods is vital to our farm economy and rural main streets. However, without robust market development and critical infrastructure projects, our producers are significantly restricted in their ability to export their high-quality products around the world. The FRIDGE Act will reduce these limitations and open new export markets for Iowa agricultural commodities.
I appreciate Nor-Am for welcoming me to their facility and I look forward to being back in Plymouth County soon for another stop on my 36 County Tour.