Thanks everyone for coming out today, and this is my 33rd town hall of this year. So been active and busy and out and about amongst our communities and our constituencies. So thank you very much for taking the time to be here with us today. We do have a lot of national media. Thank you, folks are coming out. It must be quite on the president ial trail here in iowa today. But you are absolutely welcomed so thank you for being here as well. The way our town halls work for those that havent been to one, we do have a number of cards that been filled up out by fols that would like to ask questions. If youd like to fill out a card and you did when you came in, if you would racial hand the staff of come by and will provide you with a card. You can solve it out and get your name thrown in there to be drawn as well. With that what we will do, go ahead and get started. I will have an Opening Statement anything. We want to get to as many questions as possible. I can come if you have cards, send those up to the front here. Emily will goo ahead and call a couple names out. She would get folks in the queue and we will. Get started. Thank you for coming. Apologize for any name i butchered. Ill read to nicknames. First up and then the second person you know, you will be up subsequently. First deb from carol followed by from denison. Hello. My question im a a Small Business owner in carroll county. I want to know what your concerns are andkn what youre going to do about these tariffs . I just receivedif a letter from one of my suppliers and my product that comes from china is going to be up one and 3 in addition to a 25 . Right now chinese negotiations are ongoing with the china tariffs and so forth. I continue pressing the president on this. I would like toes see the chinee trade deal done sooner rather than later it is one of the trade agreements that will not come to congress to is being negotiated by rus trade rep and the president and their team. Understand it needs to come to a close. Working withnue the president on that trying to provide whatever support we can to enable them to get this done in a timely manner. The important thing to remember is these trade negotiations especially comes to china are not as easyci as negotiated wita traditional ally of ours. Some mexico and canada, those types of trade agreements, working with the eu, working with great britain, those are much easier because we do other things with those countries that weot can use as leverage for additional partnerships. With china not soth much. So the issue with the china, and understand they have been a bad actor for a very long time. They are treated our farmers horribly with renegotiating contracts like prices while our commodities are midpacific ocean. What we have to work on is making sure they are working with us on intellectual property theft, on currency manipulation and forced technology transfers. Those of the biggest issues we have outstanding right now. To press to get this done. So understand the concerns, and i give you those across the state of iowa. Absolutely. The pinch is on. Amber, followed by nathaniel. Thank you for the phonetic spelling. Amber, yes go ahead, amber. Im educated. My husband is an educated and i repaired to three. What is the current discussion about gun control measures and safety for our schools . Yes, absolutely and thank you for the question. This is one of those issues we have been wrangling with nowen r a very long time. So after the last recess, gun control issues were first g and foremost that we discussed when the come back to congress. So what we have to have is agreement on any bill that would move forward between the house, the senate, and then the president has to indicate what he is going to sign into law as well. So to make it a law we all have to figure out the path forward. It has to have a clear and real and positive effect. So between the two bodies in congress and the president , we are still working on what we can actually get done. So understand the concerns that are out there. Theres a lot of disagreement on this issue. Weve got to find a path forward. So negotiations are still ongoing between congress and the white house. Nathaniel followed by will rogers of des moines. Hello. My name is nathaniel. I work times as a constituent advocate. The time of the gentleman hasvo expired again ive contacted by people trying to abuse also stated they have bona fide dispose of many which will be eventually cleared as the disability or however, solstice could he takes five years, appeals processes before the process is finalized and back payments are paid. Most of these people are not bedridden, not homebound but are not able to gainful employment. Whenever they try to get gainful employoy that they are punished. Whenever they tried to deal with Social Security to improve themselves, their punishment if they get married theyre punished. These are all federal issues at the federal level. Ive met with everyone running for president coming tosi the state and talking to them about this issue. Republican or and democratic he and senate, edwin agrees this is a problem, however no one has been able to make any moves on this to what people in the v. A. Are also not getting the treatment they need. Just one person out of fairfield has a lot of ailments and the da knew about andem didnt tell thm about it. It wasnt till he went to a private doctor. He just didnt do about it at that point back to these people are dying in many of the 12 are not dying of losing their ability to hold gainful employment because the federal agencies are not working fast enough and even the most members of congress agree, nobody picks it up. Thank you, t nathaniel. I can tell you very frustrated and this has been a frustration of mine, too. Anytime someone of voices the fact we need to make changes, whether its with the v. A. In the way we do business at the v. A. Or whether its with Social Security, whether it is traditional Social Security or Social Security disability, the media goes into a frenzy. Weve seen this happen in recent past. So there is an issue there where politicians are afraid to talk about those issues. But we have that real and honest conversation about it, and understand that these programs need work. They need work. Its a huge government bureaucracy, and we have people that need support and our own communities and we need to be able to cutd through the red tape. So to have on his conversations we just need to sit down. Republican and democrat, it doesnt matter but we have to on his conversations about the issues that existe within these federal programs and how we overcome them. Until we sit at and do it without hysterics, and without trying to make it a political talking point, only then are we going to be able to move forward on any real significant change in those programs. Shall thank you, nathaniel. Will followed by laura of lenora. Thank you, senator kirk will rogers with Iowa Nebraska equipment dealers association. I wanted to touch base today but ethanol. A lot of our farmers in the state of iowa, Commodity Prices are really down and part of that is the ethanol production issue thats going on. Could you give us an update on whats going on in washington, d. C. Right now about ethanol production and how were going to get that back on track . Absolutely. This matters. This matters to people here in iowa. The renewable fuel standard, it is the law. It is the law, and our federal government needs to be adhering to the law. We have had many, many discussions many times over. Ive had many personal conversations both on the phone with the president as well as meetings in the oval office with him as well. Talking how we move forward. I understand, on one hand the president o saying you dont wat to shut downe small refineries for the oil folks. We also had senator Chuck Grassley, we had the senates from nebraska and the senators from south dakota. We met in a Small Group Setting with the Vice President and the president , and we came upt wita plan to move forward for ethanol and other biofuels. And so through that meeting, we , thought we had a deal that cod be supported by our industries involved and that others could be supportive of across our Ag Industries as well. So then once the word got out that we had finally gotten to a deal, then, of course, big oil came in and threw a Monkey Wrench in that, and they said, well, this isnt fair. Well, maybe you dont think its fair, but it isin the law. So were just asking the administration to uphold the law. And i think, i think were on our way now. I can say that. The president reached out to me, and i had a visit with him on monday. And so we are back to our original proposal. So so it is good. They want togo see an announcemt this week, so we are working on that. Bottom line, folks, 15 billion gallons, 15 billion gallons is what the law calls for, and thats what were going to stick with. So i thinks that we have a deal forthcoming. I want to see it in writing within, you know, weve had the rug pulled out from underneath us before. So weve got to see it in writing. But i think we are well on our way there and, hopefully, well have it resolved this week, thank you. Laura, followed by kim reese reeselman of manila. Hi, senator ernst. I am following up on one of the questions by the teacher. I continue to be beyond frustrated by the lack of action by the senate and yourself on anythingvi related to gun violee in this country. I mean, a hundred people a day are killed by gun violence. Weve had children [applause] gunned down in our schools. Is and heres the thing, i mean, 200 days ago the house passed some reasonable legislation. Im not antisecond amendment, im not against hunting, im not against hand guns. But when we have this kind of a problem if these were terrorists coming into our country and murdering 100 people a day, you would be doing something. The house passed a strong red flag bill, and they also passed a bill that would require background checks on all gun sales. I would likeun to know your personal stand on this and what youre going to do about it. This, for me, is going to become a voting issue, because if you guys cant get your act together on this, what are you going to do with other bigger issues in ourr country . [applause] and i would say, again, the house did pass their measure, but the president to has said he will not support that. Idso we do need to find somethig between the house and the senate that will be agreed upon to move forward. I doee think that there are ways that we can make sure any loopholes in background checks are closed. I thinkac that that is a smart move ahead, we should be doing that. And then what is called red flag laws means manager different in various Something Different in various states. I i do support taking a look at some of those various measures, but making sure that due process is involved. Because there are states that are passing socalled red flag laws where there is no due process for the person that is accused. So we need to make sure that that is covered. We are still americans, and we still do have rights. This those rights are taken away and there is due process involved in that. And so i do think that we should be looking at those proposals. But again, due process is very important to me. If we start stripping away peoples rights, this is one right whats the next right were going to strip away from someone before theyve had their stay in front of a judge . So i think there are a number of things we can do. You mentioned the number of deaths every day, is anda i agree and i agree, its not no, its not where we should be as the United States of america. But simply, we have a lot of laws out there too, and i know people, you know, theyre going to have to scream about this, but we have laws in place already. Those laws need to be enforced. There are a number of cases where we have seen these mass tragedies, laws were not enforced. If they had been enforced, maybe some of those lives could have been saved. So simply by layering more and more laws out there, thats fine and dandy if you want us just to feel good about writing a law, but it has to be enforced to make a difference. So ive had a number of folks that will come out to these town halls x theyll say, senator, this needs to be in law, this needs to be in law, this needs to be in law. And you know what . At lot of a lot of those things are already law. Theyre not being enforced. So we need to educate ourselves on what is in law and how do we do a better job enforcing it. And then i also believe that in some of these cases where we have had shooters that will access a weapon whether it was a parent or a friend that gave them a weapon, those people need to be held accountable too. You know . [applause] im a responsible gun owner. Im a responsible gun owner. I keep my guns locked up. Im not going to provide them with someone that doesnt have the authorization. So i think there are a number of things that we should be doing. Kim followed by don lorenzen of manning. First of all, thank you for this opportunity to hear our voices so that you can be our voice. My questionan relates to climat. Notably, the political climate. It seems increasingly problematic that a partisanship and mistrust has made working together to problem solve be at an impasse before consideration, discussion or negotiation even starts. What are your thoughts on this, and what are you doing to help the disruptive standstill and negativity this atmosphere creates . Thank you for that. I think that is a really important question because and i want to thank folks in the media for actually being here andei covering what is important to iowans. I think thats the first step, is that we focus on issues that are meaningful to our various constituencies. But in washington, d. C. , there is a divide. And there are some hot button topics out there where we do argue. And we can go on the floor of the senate, and we can go after each and just really, you know, debate and debate and debate, but there are issues that we agree on as well. There are a number of issues where weve been able to pass things out of committees unanimously, really important things like infrastructure bills. We just passed a highway reauthorization package out of the environment and Public Works Committee unanimously in the senate. How many of our outlets covered that this . Did you hear about it on the news . A wonderful success . Bipartisanship . No. Its not driving up viewership if were not fighting about something. So that tends tobo be what peope cover. But all in all, yeah, there are some hot button issues thatll really get our blood flowing in d. C. But then there are a lot of issues that we really do agree upon, and we sit down and we have those rational conversations. We so if it is Something Like transportation, its really important to so many of us. Veterans issues, another one where we can come together and actually be supportive. Just this last week i introduced a billin that is cosponsored by democrat jackie rosen, and it focuses on our childcare deserts across the United States and allowing sba loans for nonprofits so that they can develop childcare centers. You know, thats important here in iowa. We dont have enough childcare facilities. So we find things, common passions amongst the even different parties, and when we find those passions, we really work with together on introducing bills. So i think it is up to a number of us just to set the example that we can find a path forward, but we have to be willing to work with the other party to do that. Its important that we Work Together and find solutions. You know . Its not good enough just to have political talking points out there. We actually do have to be working together. So, you know, again, the media likes to focus on the things that are going wrong. They dont focus enough on whats goingng right. And thats what i i would like o see more of. And i think you would see more folks wanting to Work Together if they got recognition for actually doing i a really good b at something their constituents carein about. So thank you. Don, followed by amy of manning. Im a Public Housing director, and thank you for coming, by the way, senator. And one of the main concerns that i have had over time has been the Trump Administrations lack of funding for our programming and kind of how Public Housing is being portrayed sometimes by the administration as people that are just taking advantage of a system. In our situation, and i think across most of iowa because i do sit on the iowa naro board, its primarily our elderly that are trying to live on the little bit of Social Security that they have. And so my concern is always for our funding. And like i said, the Trump Administration has consistently requested lower amounts of funding and, actually, for the last couple years has recommended zero funding for our Capital Improvement while at the same time hud has been increasinghu the pressure on uso make publicpr housing just like new. Our Public Housing unit is 50 years old very quickly here, and so im not quite sure how i can make our Public Housing new whilee yet, you know, having a recommendation of zero funding to do that. So between regulation and funding, what is your stance with Public Housing . I am a big supporter. So thank you very much. I was just up at sioux city several weeks ago for the opening of everett apartments which is a wonderful success for the sioux city area, and i am proud to be part of that. So what i remind everyone too too is that the administration, the president has to make his recommendations for a budget every year. By law he has to. But, remember, its congress that holds the pursestrings. And so i do support those initiatives, and i think its really important. Iowa is one of those states that tends to suffer a little bit with the housing voucher issue as well, and i have introduced a bill, we have tried to work this out in a way that will also meet some of the demands of some of the more urban, metrofocused states. And let me explain a little bit where im going. We have housing vouchers for families that live in iowa which will help them receive low Income Housing, rent, and those vouchers are provided to those that live in the state. But what can happen and ill share an example that i know personally isam there are waiting lists in other states, in other communities. So maybe theres a waiting list in the chicago area or in illinois. And soo a family from illinois r an individual from illinois will move into iowa and then receive an iowa housing voucher. But then they will move back to illinois, and you know where im going. The housing voucher from iowa goes to illinois. And so the pot of money for iowa, we end up paying that for housing in illinois. And just in the sioux land area and i know this, because ive done a Little Research when i went to everett apartments just in the sioux land area, 15,000 a month in iowa housing vouchers goes outside of the state. Every month. Every month. 15,000. Thats enough to house 45 iowa families in iowa. And yet its going to another state. So i have a bill that i have introduced, and the only way we can get kind of bipartisan support there was if there are still dollars available in that other states pot of money, then that other state would pick up that housing voucher. But if they have a waiting list, then were still on the hook to pay for housing in other states. So theres a number of ways im trying to work through this issue for iowans to make it workable here, but i do support your programs, and i think theyre very important. We have pockets all across the state of iowa where low Income Housing is very important. We want to make sure that folks can sustain a healthy lifestyle, live in a safe environment, and we can work on those projects together. We absolutely should be doing that. So thats my message to the administration, is that we still we need this. One other area i want to touch on before we move on to the next question too is i my empowers act. And we have an issue, and i just spoke to a young lady down in southwest iowa not that long ago. She is in low Income Housing. She just took a job working for a bank. Shes a single mom. He now is making too much money she now is making too much money, so her low Income Housing, the rent is going up. Shes losing childcare because shes making too much money. So nowau that young lady thatsa single mom that was qualifying for low Income Housing and childcare through federal Government Programs, shes now been cut off from that. Shes going to have to take a second is job now. So were kind of defeating the purpose by hurting those that are trying to do better for themselves andnd their familiesy cutting them off. So my empowers act would allow people in that situation that maybe need the Additional Support and theyre trying to get on their feet, we penalize them for doing better by cutting them off completely once they get to a point. But through empowers, by working with a number of programs and with states we can tailor a sliding scale so that the as they do better and do gain more income, we can help them up off of poverty or out of poverty without cutting them off completely so as they do better, we gradual hi decrease what the federal governmentgr is doing. But we dont want to put them in a bad place where theyre losing all assistance. So thats my empowers act. I think it is gaining some traction out there. Weve got more sponsors this year than we did the first time i introduced it in the last congress. So were talking it up, were really trying to do better by folks that are trying to do better for themselves as well. So thanks for being here to speak on that issue. Thank you. Amy, followed by mary bruner of carroll. Ill beg your forgiveness. I have fibromyalgia so i tend to misspeak a little bit because i dont have Insurance Coverage for that. Everybody keeps saying, oh, we inwant all of this to be taken caref. Of, but yet you vote opposite of what you say youre going to do. [inaudible] [laughter] and i had probably a good six or seven questions that the i wanted to ask, but at the same time, whats most important is you started talking about china just a little bit ago, about having to work with china. We have family farms that are going under. We have people bankrupt, we have southwestt iowa underwater, you know . They couldnt sell their corn that was sitting and their beans and all their, like i said, i cant talk today, their seeds and, you know, they had to put it in storage, washes away. They a dont get money for that. And yet today, just this morning, we have President Trump saying, oh, we need to talk to xi jinping and president xi and have him investigate joe biden. How is that helping anybody . [applause] you know, we have him talking to russians. Hioh, mueller report, nobody red it except for the ones that actually wanted to read it because they wanted to know what was in it. We have him going after ukraine. Oh, well, if you want weapons to protect from my buddy in russia, then youree going to have to do what i want you to do and investigate joe biden. Now this morning we have him going, oh, well, we should, you know, hes going to be in the white house here in the next couple weeks, and yet, you know, were going to have, you know, he should investigate joe biden too, because im sure there was some other stuff over there. Wege get conspiracy theories and lies and Everything Else except what we really need to know and what we really need him to know. And it just where is the line . When arere you guys going to sa, enough . And stand up and say, you know ndwhat . Im not backing any of this, because he constantly has everybody, oh, well, its not this, its not that, or, you know, Everything Else. But yet you still stand there silent. And your silence is supporting him and not standing up. [applause] you yourself served. You didnt pledge an oath to the president , you pledged it to our country, you pledged it to our constitution. When are you guys going to start standingen up and actually be there for us . Yeah, good question. Im not a democrat, im an independent. So i dont want you to think that im just a plant antitrump person [laughter] i dont. [laughter] no, no, amy. [inaudible] okay. So just to address preexisting conditions. So, yes, i did vote to repeal the aca. But i have supported other initiatives that do protect preexisting conditions. So lets make that very clear. I knownd theres a lot of ads ot there, and there was a lot of sloppy work by whoever is running all of these ads who are probably not iowans, just to remind everybody. So if you would go back and take a look during that debate and primarily one that i really, really think would work, is a bill in the work that i did with Susan Collins which would protect folks with preexisting conditions and cover those high costs of medical care for those that need it. Thso let me back up. A little bit about the ads on preexisting conditions. You know, everybody thinks that politicians, theyre immune to all in the, and they dont have the same issues that, you know, folks backk in iowa do. But both of my siblings are type i diabetics, and they have lived on insulin their entire lives. And its not healthy for them. Theyve had some significant challenges. And, folks, i have a nephew with autism. So i get it. I do get it. And i understand the challenges. And when my sister has to switch insulin because some Government Program says she has to switch insulin, you know . According to the aca, we cant do this anymore. That impacts my family too. So, you know, i do understand the preexisting conditions. So we have the aca in place, but youve said that your condition is not covered . My husband has insurance through his work, but to cover me, that would take half his check. My children are covered by hawki. I cannot be employed right now because i cant even talk to you without messing up my words. I have good days and i have really, really, really bad days. And most employers dont understand that. And we keep hearing about all these jobs that are minimum wage jobs that do not have insurance. Okay. So with the he makes [inaudible] and so a state exchange option, and im just going to say it for you, its probably too expensive. Yeah. Because i have dear friends of mine down in montgomery county, Small Business owners, they were paying because of the aca, and they, you know, were looking at what are the options available to them for them to go through the aca, mom, dad, young son, 28,000 every year in premiums. They make just too much to qualify for government subsidies. But how [inaudible] has been repealed back and taken away not nearly enough. I think weve got to so let me go back to the bill i had with Susan Collins, and let me talk about it and just explain what that would do. So it. Creates an invisible high risking pool, and the state of risk pool, and the state of maine was doing this before the aca. And it was working. And the aca outlawed it. But what the state of maine was doing was manager called an invisible highma risk pool. And with that invisible high risk pool, then you would have folks like yourself that would be in that invisible high risking pool. You wouldnt even know it well, youou probably would if yu have a preexisting condition, youd justti assume, but youre paying the same as everybody else, you know, regardless of condition. Once you hit a certain limit that the Insurance Company that was covering you, there would be a predetermined amount, once you hit that limit, then you would roll over into that risk pool and woulde be covered by the state, okay in so you wouldnt miss a beat. Youd still be covered by that insurer, and once the insurer got to that preis set limit with the state, the state picks up the rest of the tab. That way your condition is covered and no interruption to you, ornt okay . So thats what we were working on. But, unfortunately, we didnt get enough votes or enough support in the senate to have that measure in place. But we still do have the aca. So we still are going through issues. But i am also on a bill that covers preexisting conditions with thom tillis as well. Theres a number of other bills that exist out there. So if we are put to a point where the aca is repealed, then itnt is going through the judicl system right now, if that should ever happen, then we need to have our plans in place and ready to go and be ready for a full debate again. And i still think that invisible high risk pool is a way to do it to make sure everyone is covered regardless of if theyre a type i diabetic, if they have autism, if they havefy promial ya fibropromial ya. You would be cover. I do support people with preexisting conditions. You know, ipr certainly wouldnt want to do that to my family members. I want to have a plan, and i think my plan would work, you know . [inaudible] then you can we have, what, a year, year and a half, possibly more because everything sits on [inaudible] whats going to happen no. They anticipate that potentiay next year there would be a ruling on this. And so we have what we have already voted on, of course, but we also have our own task force that we have a couple doctors in our republican caucus, and all of the input that we have received from various doctors, hospital associations and so forth. So all of that can be rolled together, and we go through the voting process again and determine what will work. But we need cooperation from the house as well. So all of us, again, regardless of party, we all need to be sitting down and working through this issue. Yeah. I dont want to leave folks in the lurch, okay . Thank l you. [inaudible] okay, so President Trump. I can say yea, nay, whatever. President is going to say what the president is going to do. Its up to us as members of congress to continue working with our allies making sure that we remain strong in the face of adversity. Thats what we havefa to do, is atntinue to encourage those other countries. So thats what we will continue toti do. I beg your pardon, but all of our allies hes pushing aside. Hes making fun of them on twitter well,l, and, maam we end up with, oh, we love people from north korea or we love russia. But where, i mean, i understand its a nonanswer answer, and i understand. I get it, i know what youre saying i cant speak for him. Ill just say, i cant speak for him. I know you cant speak for him, but you can speak for yourself. And i do. And i have said this time and n. Time again. North korea, not our friend. Russia, not our friend. I have made that very, very clear, and the president knows where i stand on those issues. What about whistleblowers . And ive already said that too. Whistleblowers should be protected. I stand with Chuck Grassley on this. We have laws in place. Again, laws need to be enforced. I understand, but were not hearing it from thats because our medias not covering those issues. You havet to say it for our media to cover it. Yeah. Whistleblowers should be protected, thank you very much. Whistleblowers should be protected. Please, let folks out there know. And our president shouldnt be threatening them, and he also should not be encouraging other countries to investigate his political rivals . I would say to that corruption, no matter where it is, should be ferreted out. If we have corruption here, it should be ferreted out. If theres corruption in other countries and i, i have traveled to ukraine, and i have visited with i havent visited with the new president , but many years ago i had the opportunity to meet president poroshenko, and in ukraine there is stillin a large amount of corruption. And they have tried to deal with that corruption. They need to continue dealing with corruption. I dont care where it is, i dont care who it is, when it is, corruption is corruption, and it should be combated. But its okay for our president to extort other countries i, youu know, okay, were going to move on to another question, but what i would say is we cant determine that yet. We have information that will be presented to the Senate Intelligence committee, and they will call in the witnesses if necessary, and itll be done in a bipartisan manner. Process. And they will evaluate that. So not jumping to any conclusions. With we dont have the full story yet. But once we do, then we can make that determination. So were, going to go ahead and move to another, another person. Mary, followed by [inaudible] of sioux city. Hello. Imel mary bruner from carroll. [laughter] well, i came with one question, but i have a lot of thoughtses after listening to all the discussion. First of all, i want to say to the press im not throwing you under the bus. I respect that you are here, that you cover things can and that you help us to find out the truth. You hold us accountable [applause] to what we should be. So thank you to the press for being here. And thank youyo for what you don your profession. To you, senator, thank you also for being here. I respect that you are coming to get information. I heard you say that you are accomplishing many things behind the scenes that you, that we might not all be aware of, and i understand that at your level, i understand that on the house side. I think there are a a lot of things going on that, you know, maybe arent in our daily lives that were aware of, and thank you for working on those things. I am here, however, for that hot button question, and im following up on the two previous questions with about it. Im here as a grandmother, and im here because i want our country to be safe for my grandchildren. Ive written to you, ive called you after some of our major mass shootings. Ive heard you say that you and correct me if im wrong on this, but you just said the president will do what he will do. So i dont understand why when there is a background check that was passed in the house of representatives, it is waiting for the senate to act on it. You are a senator. You can take action on it. Why would you wait for the president to decide what he wants to do about it . Hes changed his mind on it many times. Depends on the day. Why would you wait for him . As the legislative body theres three parts to the government. You have your role. I want the senate to act on the background bill. [applause] and, yes. Understand. Understand. Following him will be bob mulqueen of des moines. Good morning, senator. Thank you so much once again for giving us this opportunity to come and meet with you and talk you. I really appreciate all the service that youre doing for iowa and the rest of the country. So first and foremost, i was [inaudible] hello . Yes. So just to let you know, i was in d. C. Last month again, and i had a very good, fruitful meetingul with your staff as we. So as you probably may recall, i yam a physician from sioux city, iowa. Im a lung specialist. My wife is a dentist, she works at a federallyqualified Health Care Center as well. So, essentially, i am a [inaudible] and President Trump actually was with us, 50,000 plus people [inaudible] so i really want to thank him for that. The reason im here is that you arere one of our really big sponsors of our bill, s. 386, and this is the a very common sense bill that actually takes away any kind of rationing of green cards based upon the country of origin. Ford somebody like me whos a killed immigrant and serves communities in rural iowa, our wait time to get naturalized is more than 17 years. And there are people who could come from less populated countries and get a green card in one year. So the down side is ive been waiting for 78 years now, and i know people that have been waiting 15 years. So this bill basically gives the green card on a first come, first served basis. Without it, i know kids who belong to relatives and other friends who will age out at age 21, and they will just become like the dhaka kids, but daca kids, but they will have no way to remain in the country. They havent been in this they have been in this country all their life just because they were born elsewhere. So i just learned that the senate, among the senator republicans theres senate a unanimoustheres kind of agreement to get this bill passed through. The house has already a passed it by a strong bipartisan support, 365 votes. And trusting enough when the democrats is say that they are a party of proimmigrants, i find that senator durbin whos the leader on the democratic side is holding up the bill. I do believe and what ive heard that he has prejudice against people from my country, can and thats very unfortunate, i believe. I cant fix that. All im here to request you to help pass this bill working with senator lee and senator mcconnell to be able to get this bill passed through, get passed through this impediment and help us get this law, this bill passed into law. I think that will be a huge a achievement in this highly partisan times and be able to show the country that we can certainly Work Together when this is something as common sense as this. Thank you. And thank you for your perspective. And ipe do support it. I am ardent support of the bill, and it does address bringing folks in that are skilled in a certain area like physicians. And we all know that in rural iowa we need additional physicians. We need dentists, we need anesthesiologists, we need you name it, we need all of the above. So if we have folks that are immigrating from other countries, we need them. So this would help us, especially in rural, fill these positions that are so desperately needed. And as pointed out, i think ive said this in many of my town halls, we need to modernize our Immigration Laws. And this is a great step forward in addressing some of those needs in immigration. [applause] so we do. Weve got labor shortages from lowskill unskill all the way up to most highest skilled folks like yourself that we absolutely have to have herewe in our great state of iowa. So i think this is a great first step forward. Well continue working with senator durbin is and try and move that bill. But, yeah, it would be a great, very, very positive step for the us. And if we could get this one done, maybe there are other areas of immigration that we might be able to get done as well. So thank you again. You have just been a great, great advocate on this issue, so thank you for aa tending today as well. Attending today as well. [applause] bob, and hell be folded by adam of carroll. Hello, senator. We knew each other slightly when you were in the state senate a few years back. Id like to hear your comment on making the connections between the heavy spring rains and the flooding and carbon in the atmosphere and global change, Global Warming change. Well, i cant make those connections. Maybe other folks can. We do know that we have changing weather patterns. We do have to acknowledge that. So ways that we could be helpful, i think iowas a leader in this area at finding a way to move forward and using the resources that we have at hand. We would like to see other states provide incentives as well. The things that im talking about, number one, something weve already talked about renewable fuels. We all know that ethanol burns cleaner than petroleum products. I would encourage all of you, go out today, fill your car with something that has e10, or if youre able, e15. We would love that. But other examples are wind energy across the state of iowa. Its something that has been incentivized by republican Governor Terry branstad as well as the father or grandfather of wind energy, Chuck Grassley. So a wonderful renewable source of energy that is Cost Effective and providing iowa with close to 40 of our electricity. 40 . Other states dont come nearly as close there. Easo after midamerica gets done with their wind energy field in western iowa, iowa will draw about 80 of its wind energy for electric use. So its a great opportunity for us here in iowa. We also are involved in solar are panels, so we have a number of solar fields. We get about 10 of our electric from solar. But all of those have been incentivized. It hasnt been the federal government telling us or mandating that our communities nddo this. Were doing it because incentives have been provided, and our consumers are demanding that cleande energy. So weve seen a Natural Evolution here in the state of iowa, and i think thats really important to remember. It didnt take federal Government Intervention to make this happen, it is something that we have done on our own. So ill continue to support those programs. I think it is really important. Adam, and hell be followed by biker mark carver of des moines. Hello, senator. Im adam, and im the president of the highway 30 coalition. Thank you for being here in carroll county. My question is really two parts today. The highway 30 coalition is, of course, promoting the fourlane completion of highway 30 across the statete of iowa. We believe this is really important to Economic Vitality in our Rural Communities and sustainability moving forward. Wiwith transportation, you had mentioned a little bit earlier that there is some bipartisanship. As we talk about transportation, i believe that as well. What might you be able to do to really get the federal side of things f looking at our interste system and committing the money that it needs in order to continue to build and sustain the traffic thats on the interstate . By doing that, youll relieve the burden of the iowa d. O. T. s funding situation and being able to support our rural iowa roads which are really critical to our asmall communities and the rest of the transportation in the state. Well, and weve already done our part there in the senate. What weve done through the epw committee, again unanimously supported, bipartisan effort, was a plussedup highway reauthorization bill. So additional dollars that will go to our roads and bridges. The one thing that we can agree on is infrastructure. Thing that we dont agree on is how do we fund that infrastructure. And, adam, you are well aware of some of thead pushes and pulls involved with finding additional dollars. So while we werent able to get the 1 trillion package of infrastructure that President Trump wanted to see initially, what we have been able to do in a bipartisan manner is get that plussedup bill through the senate epw committee. We need to ski it on the see it on the floor of the senate. It might even have to move as part of a larger package to get it done, but we need to have that cooperation between the senate and the house as well. And then have those additional dollars coming in to the state of iowa. And youree right, it would help ease the burden of our iowa d. O. T. , and they have a number of projects that they have outlined that will be very, very important to the statete of iowa if they can get those additional dollars. So were working on it, adam. Well continue pushing to have a vote on the full senate floor. Okay. Next up will be mark, and then our final question will be liz garst of coon rapids. First, i want to thank you for your service and all youve done in your career. My older brother actually sent me over because hes a disabled vet, and he wanted me to thank you for all the changes so he can get medical care easier, okay . Hes been very sick, and he couldnt make it today because hes had to adopt his great grandkids. So, but secondly, id like to ask about the student loan forgiveness for disabled vets. Wheres that at . Are you for that . And has your opponent made any statement on anything like that . Well, right now i dont have an identified opponent, and i dont want to get too far into that political realm since its an official visit. But, yeah, just anything that we can do to help those disabled veterans, i think that is very important. Understanding that our nation has called upon them, they have served, and if they are disabled, making sure that education is important for them. And if theres a way that we can help with that debt repayment, then we certainly can take a look at that. So, you know, have to see whatever would be put down into writing to move that forward, but typically would be supportive of that. So wepp do offer a number of educational benefits already to ourwe veterans, and so if theres a way that we can help them, then we can take a look at that, certainly. And iy. Would likely be supporte then of those efforts. So, yes, veterans. We have a number of things that have gone on very positively for our veterans, and you mentioned that allowing access to care, making that easier. And i have had so many veterans when i first went into the United States senate, i had a veteran that i had known from osceola there in clark county, and hes like i just dont get why i have to drive by two perfectly good hospitals to go to the v. A. To get my blood drawn which takes, like, 15 minutes. We shouldnt force our veterans to do that, and hes an older disableded vet. So finding rides to get to des moines can be difficult on those veterans as well. Especially in the rural areas. So making sure that were supporting our communitybased outpatientsu clinics, or cbocs, really, really important. Telehealth is an area that ive been very focused on both within the v. A. And then in our civilian hospitals as well. So using telehealth, telemedicine, very, very important. It helps connect our Rural Communities withh specialists in other areas that we werent able to dor before. So those have been some efforts that ive been spearheading for our veterans. So theres a lot of things that we can be working on to help our veterans, and i just had a bill that was signed into law not all that long ago. It did deal with disabled veterans. We found a disparity when veterans are applying for bankruptcy. So those that are disabled, their Disability Income from the v. A. Was included in, in the calculations for repayment. But somebody, a regular civilian thats on Social Security disability, their Social Security disability is notot included. So our government was actually treating our veterans worse than they weretr treating civilians o had not is served our country. So so what we did, we kind of paired that. We found parity, and now that its been signed into law, that payment will not be included for repayment calculations. So we are finding ways to help our veterans not only just those that have served, but those that have a disability due to service. So well continue to do that. And its one of my greatest honors is to be able to do their work for them in our nations capital. So im glad to have that opportunity to serve. So thank you very much. [applause] im rapids, farmer in this area. Since we started farming, weve lost half our topsoil, and the chief usda soil scientist in iowa says that were going to lose the rest of our topsoil in the loess hills in 35 years, and were going to lose the rest of our topsoil in northcentral iowa in 80100 years. The reasonsi he says were losig this soil is Climate Change and deteriorating soil health. What, in addition to the incentives the governments provided to the solar, wind if ethanol industries, can we do to reduce carbon which is still increasing so the measures weve madede are not sufficient . Well and if you had time also, what changes would you make to the u. S. Farm bill to do something about providing better incentives to preserve our soil . Actually, ive actually done that. I spearheaded the conservation efforts d with Debbie Stabenow n our farm bill. Shes the democrat Ranking Member on the ag committee, and i actually worked in conjunction with her on those conservation efforts. So iton was bipartisan, and what we have done is allowed expanded access to those conservation programs and making sure the dollars are going to those programs that actually to work. Do work. So im a supporter of those conservation efforts, and my voting record will show that. And its been bipartisan. Actually, the again, the Ranking Member of the Agricultural Committee and i worked together on those efforts, and i was very supportive of those. So i think its really important that we continue to work on soil health here in the taut of iowa and make sure in the state of iowa and make sure that the right conservation practices are in place for better soil health. So im a sporter, im a supporter there. So thats what were doing in addition. Thanks, everybody. And thats what weve addressed. And so just supporting those efforts as well through various incentives. And thats what well continue to do as a federal government. Veso i do want to thank everyboy for coming out today. Thank you very much for being very respectful and welcoming. Our media into this talk about hall, again town hall. Again, this was my 33rd town hall here in the state of iowa [applause] so i am glad to come out and hear your concerns. If you noticed during the course of our discussion, i did take notes on who was asking questions and what their concerns were. I do keep these. Now, my staff excuse me, my staff will go back and enter my notes into our system, so if i do have a question or want to follow up whether its challenges withfy row myalgia, whether its challenges with soil health, whatever it is, i whcan go back and see who was asking the question. Hopefully, we have your Contact Information on the card, and we can do followup with you. So your voiceswe are heard, i appreciate it. Whatec i also like to do is compare what are the top issues im hearing in all of these other counties, you know, from corner to corner here in the state of iowa. Top two issues are trade and the economy. I kind of lump those together because they go hand in hand and health care. Those are the top two issues i get at most of our town halls, and those are consistent regardless of where i am in the state of iowa. Again, thanks so much for taking the time to come out and be with me today the. I really do appreciate your input and your voices. Thank you. Have a good afternoon. [applause] [inaudible conversations] we are going to take you to afternoon session of a daylong conference on Immigration Law and migrant policy. Starting live at 2 p. M. Eastern. But first, a look at this mornings session after the acting Homeland Security director was shouted down by reporters. Today youll hear, again, hear voices from across the spectrum and from different vantage points. Up doubtedly, you wont agree with all of them. But at the time when immigration has become so polarized, we firmly believe it is important to hear directly from stakeholders on whats animating their thoughts and actions, be able to question them and have a thoughtful, civil and informed dialogue. So again, welcome, and we look forward to a full day of engaging and provocative discussions. Let me now introduce acting secretary of Homeland Security, kevin mcaleenan. He became acting secretary in april at the hel