My Weekly Column

Last month, I traveled to Israel to meet with government officials about the ongoing war. We walked the Kibbutzes where innocent Israelis were murdered, raped, beheaded, and tortured by Hamas terrorists and learned more of the horrifying details about the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. We saw firsthand the food, water, medical supplies, and other aid that Israel is actively delivering to civilians in Palestine despite unfounded outcry from Hamas apologists.

When a family welcomes a newborn into the world or a medical condition leaves someone unable to work, it’s important that employees of businesses both large and small have access to paid family and medical leave. Paid family and medical leave – known as PFML for short – ensures that workers can take needed paid time off to spend with their families when a new baby arrives or, in the event of a medical emergency, allows employees to take the time that they need to heal and recover without missing a paycheck.

Our communities have faced – and continue to experience – catastrophic flooding that has devastated homes, farms, businesses, schools, and hospitals. Families have lost cherished possessions, businesses face costly cleanup, and farmers have lost crops. However, despite this challenging time for our district, Iowans are resilient. Neighbors are stepping up to help neighbors, farmers are deploying their payloaders to haul away debris, and communities are coming together to recover and rebuild.

On June 18^th, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – the government agency tasked with monitoring our nation’s fiscal health – confirmed my serious concerns with President Biden’s reckless spending agenda. His administration’s fiscal policies have not only caused cumulative inflation to skyrocket by over 20% since he took office, but they have also accelerated our accumulation of debt to levels that are beyond unsustainable.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a strong and critical investment in our troops, our military families, and our national security. From the worsening crisis at our southern border and Hamas’ attacks against Israel to China’s increasingly brazen aggression on the world stage and Iran’s blatant bankrolling of terrorism, ensuring that our military has the resources and support that it needs to protect our nation at home and abroad is a matter of vital importance.

Our economy is in tough shape. Cumulative inflation has skyrocketed by nearly 20% since President Biden took office while real wages have fallen by roughly 4.4%. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the economy grew at a rate of only 1.3% in the first quarter of 2024 – three points lower than predicted – while interest rates have surpassed their highest levels in 23 years.

By now, Iowans and Americans nationwide have seen with their own eyes the devastating crisis that President Biden has created at our southern border. Every day, illegal immigrants, drug traffickers, and terrorists are crossing our border in overwhelming numbers. This lawlessness and chaos are fueled exclusively by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.

In the early morning hours of Friday May 24^th after nearly 14 hours of deliberation, I voted — alongside my Republican colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee — to advance the 2024 Farm Bill out of committee and send it to the House Floor for a vote by the full Congress. This legislation is not only critical for our farmers and our economy, but it’s also vital to our global leadership and our competition against China.