Fourth District Focus: Discussing flood recovery with small business owners and local leaders in Spencer on my 36 County Tour
Since I was first elected to Congress, I pledged that I would travel to all 36 counties in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District at least twice each year. It’s a promise that I’ve faithfully kept and dubbed my “36 County Tour.” To date, I have made more than 345 stops, meeting with Iowans and visiting hospitals, farms, schools, businesses, manufacturers, universities, community organizations, and many other places. Having real, face-to-face conversations with Iowans and is important to me, and allows me to take their suggestions and ideas to Washington to transform them into meaningful policy solutions.
Over the years, I have made many trips to Clay County. In 2021, I toured Arnold Motor Supply to talk trade policy, visited Great Lakes Communication Corporation to discuss broadband connectivity and rural housing, and stopped by Veridian Fire Protective Gear to learn more about the extensive protective gear production process. In 2022, I visited Morton Buildings and participated in a roundtable discussion with management and employees at Northwest Bank in Spencer where we covered my bill to lower the cost of administering and securing rural home and farm loans. In 2023, I toured the Child Health Specialty Clinic of the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital satellite location in Spencer and spoke to the Spencer Rotary and Kiwanis clubs and talked about my time as a Kiwanian and the importance of these volunteer organizations to our rural communities.
In 2024, I visited the Spencer Chamber of Commerce-Spencer Schools Work-Based Training Program and met with Lori Hermstad – who tragically lost both of her daughters to ALS – and discussed our shared mission to find a cure to this terrible disease. Later that year, following the devastating summer floods, I traveled to Spencer with Governor Reynolds to receive a briefing on flood damage and met with Pastor Hanges and his wife Megan at an emergency distribution center at Foundation Church. A few months later, I made my way back to Spencer for a meeting with local officials, community leaders, and law enforcement to receive an update on flood recovery.
For the first stop in Clay County on the 2025 edition of my 36 County Tour, I held another roundtable discussion with 25 small business owners and local leaders about the flood recovery process. From our conversation, it is clear that we have to cut the bloat from government agencies and ensure that relief dollars can be distributed effectively, efficiently, and quickly. These are taxpayer funds after all. The process for families and businesses to receive federal assistance after destructive storms needs to be streamlined, with the state and local communities having greater flexibility over how aid dollars are dispensed. It is ridiculous that people in cities like Spencer are still waiting for help nearly a year after the floods. I will continue to work to ensure that our communities get the support that they need to rebuild and recover, so please contact our office online at Feenstra.House.Gov or by phone at 202-225-4426 if we can be of assistance.
Being accessible to and transparent with Iowans will always be a top priority for me. Ensuring that the voice of my constituents is heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress is not only my mission, but also my humble responsibility. I look forward to being back in Clay County soon and encourage everyone to get involved in government and make your thoughts and opinions known.