Media

From the plains of Iowa to the mountains of Utah and everywhere in between, millions of American families sit around the kitchen table to talk about their budgets for the week, month, and year. This is common practice in any household, especially as families attempt to manage their finances in the face of record inflation, high energy prices, and economic uncertainty at no fault of their own. 

Agriculture is the beating heart of the American economy and the lifeblood of our rural main streets in Iowa.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the greatest geopolitical threat that we face, and their threats have been growing exponentially in recent years. 

Between record inflation, high energy costs, and regulatory uncertainty, independent Iowa cattle producers face major challenges to make a living and raise high-quality beef. Egregious WOTUS regulations threaten to saddle producers with costly red tape, sky-high feed prices drain cash reserves, and the cyclical nature of droughts and floods contribute to constant unpredictability. However, the greatest concern that we hear from Iowa cattlemen is the growing power and outsized influence of the Big Four meatpackers.

In the early morning on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, Michelle and Scott Root received the call that is every parent’s worst nightmare: Their daughter, Sarah, had been killed in a car accident.

Sarah, a 21-year-old from Council Bluffs, had graduated from Bellevue University in Nebraska the previous day and was headed home after celebrating with her friends and family. While stopped at a traffic light, she was struck and killed by Edwin Mejia, an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk — three times over the legal limit.

Public safety is the foundation of any free society. In the United States, our families deserve to live in safe communities without the constant fear of violent crime and lawlessness threatening their personal security. 

The passage of Title IX shepherded in a new generation of opportunities, equality, and fairness for female athletes nationwide. Since its codification in 1972, female participation in athletics – at both the high school and collegiate levels – has skyrocketed. According to the National Collegiate Athletics Association, fewer than 30,000 college athletes were women in 1972, and now, over fifty years later, more than 218,000 college athletes are women. High school athletics also experienced the same growth.