A very rural part of the state and the perseverance, dedication, hard work that my parents taught me really has carried me through so many different challenges in my lifetime. Opportunities in my lifetime and i wanted to tell a story that could be uplifting, certainly people will face challenges throughout their lifetime but we all should understand those challenges dont necessarily have to define us and just bless the women of the great United States of america and the opportunities it given to me and thatswhat i hope to share in this story with other people. Host the book is relatively revealing and will go through some of those things but was it tough to expose yourself like that guest it was very hard. Ive been through a number of significant challenges in my lifetime. I was raped when i was a young woman with my first boyfriend and really suffered from that but then moving on, going through an episode of Domestic Violence and it just really difficult time in my marriage and those were all things that i really did not want to sharepublicly , but i was obviously going through a very public divorce a couple years ago and then information came out through that process and i had so many other women and a few men had reached out to me and had said you know what, youve gone through these challenges. You went on tobe a Battalion Commander and youre now a United States senator. It is good for other people to hear that you can go through these life altering events but still overcome them and move on to better days. So thats what i hope that i can share with some of the readers is that you do have challenges in your lifetime but you know what, there are opportunities. Every day is a new day and you can find joy in your lifetime. Host in your book daughter of the heartland you write that people tend to pay an inordinate amount of attention to women legislators private lives. Absolutely they do. Youre scrutinized from everything that you wear, the style of your hair, the color of your hair. All of that and maybe certainly if youre a mother. How are you raising your children . Why are you away at workwhen you should be at home . Those are situations that i dont hear men ever talk about in that way. But certainly the women receive a lot of attention. With their personal lives and i think that is wholly unfair. Especially when were serving in the same chamber, same body as ourmale counterparts. But we just are looked upon differently. I dont think its justified and people shouldnt be scrutinized and personalized when they dont do it with a man. Host tell us about redoak iowa. Guest its a beautiful community. Its the heart of iowa, its our county seat and it is a community i wasraised very near. I went to school in stanton iowa which is adjacent toread a. I was raised on a farm northeast of red oak and it was just such a tremendous experience and there is such a sense of community in rural iowa. Were all very proud of where we come from. We call it being iowa nice where youre reaching out and helping a neighbor that might be in need. So it was a great place to be raised and i had truly a wonderfulchildhood growing up on the farm. It was a lot of hard work. There was a lot expected of us. But at the same time growing and developing in that type of community was really important. Host back to your book quote, life on the farm was a constant battle for survival. Guest yeah, and my parents experienced thatfirst hand and many of our neighbors did. I was raised on the farm during the 70 and80 and my father still lives on that farm today. Northeast of red oak, north of stanton and what they went through in the 80s was very difficult with the farm economy comingdown around them. Really having to make ends meet in such a constrained environment. So my dad started aseparate business. He started working with heavy equipment and doing dirt work for otherfarmers around the area. My mother once my brother was in school he took on a job, a parttime job in town. So they found other ways to bring income in to support the farm, support us kids and we made it through. But those times are challenging. You never know when the next flood is going to come through and destroy your crops. If theres going to be a drought, if theres going to be a tornado. All those natural events that can impact the farm economy so you drive through, be as resilient as you can and as i said, that sense of community and helping your neighbors. I share one story in the book where it wasnt a Natural Disaster but there was a farmer that had been injured by a cow. It was just a freak accident. The cow, she pushed up against him and knocked him into the fence and he was hospitalized and he died from his injuries. It was harvest time so his wife really needed the support. So the radio, they put an announcement on the local Radio Station and within hours people converged on that farm with combines and wagons tractors and brought that harvest in so that his widow wouldnt have to worry about that. Thats the sense ofcommunity we have in iowa. Were very proud of that. I know other states have that to thats the way i wasraised. Reach out and help when needed. Were just blessed to live in such a nation that provides this opportunity to help others. Host when you talk about a constant struggles for survivor survival, after the democratic address you gave the republican response and talked about putting red bags on your feet and you became notorious with that line. Guest i did and it wasso funny. I look back at my childhood and my mother was thrifty out of necessity. We had to be thrifty and we only had one good pair of shoes for church or for school. And looking out on the farm anybody thats been raised on a farm in iowa understands when it rains it gets very muddy so waiting for a school bus or going to church, my mother would put bread bags over our shoes to protect them and keep themclean. So we get on the school bus with our bread bags that you know what, all theother kids had bread bags to. So it really didnt matter to me but certainly its something that now that i look around our communities, parents are just thrifty or maybe they dont utilize things like that. Everybodys very conscientious about maybe being embarrassed about not having maybe what the other cool kids have. But it was a learning point for me just to make do with what youhave, be proud of what you have protect what you have. A dollar back then was something that my parents really struggled to earn those dollars and we certainly want to waste them. Thats what i carry on into the United States senate do with my waste effort, trying to be a federal watchdog that it was amazing though that some people would tease me about that. All in good humor, but then there were some folks were very mean about it to. And made fun of me because i grew up that way read and certainly i would think that folks on the left, a copy intolerance but when is a republican was going through those same hardships as a child and i became object of scorn. So its really unfortunate that we have those subdivides in our Society Today and what i want people to understand is were all human beings. We all go throughdifferent challenges. We all go through different learning point in our lifetimes and we should respect each other or different points of view. Always at empathy towards our brothers and sisters. See one senator, one of continuing themes in your book daughter of the heartland is the cohesiveness of the 26 women who serve in the United States senate. Republicans and democratsbut at the same time , a couple of those friends of yours campaign against you. In 2014 when you are running for the senate. Guest is the thing about politics. And one thing that you have to keep in mind, anytime youre entering into this absolutely bizarre world is that not everybody will agree on everything and that you have to have thick skin. So even though there are women i would consider friends we obviously have verydifferent politics. So we have to understand that cannot take it personal. We can share passion and drive on towards similar goals when we share those passions but outside of that you know what, just let it roll off your back. Thats what ive had to do many times over but its okay. I was still consider those women collaborators. I would consider them friends. Especially when we have a shared passion. Host its a prettytight sorority isnt it among the women senators . Guest it really is andour ideologies very widely. All across the spectrum, republicans and democrats. What we have found is that we can come together and we do this in a bipartisan fashion. Every couple of months weget together and have a womens dinner. It will be hosted by Susan Collins or diane feinstein. I hosted one is last fall. Theres so many things that we can do together and we dont talk politics. We talk about our families, we talk about what might be going in in our childrens lives. Things like that and its something we found really brings us together and in a cohesive unit so while we may be on opposite sides of one piece of legislation, we know that we can always path forward through friendship and work on other opportunities. You mentioned children you have one daughter libby, where she now . Libby is on her way to be dc right now and i will be taking her back up to the United States voluntary academy this weekend. Where she will report in for her next year of cooling. She is a cadet at west point. And we will go into the army in the next couple of years and so serve our great nation andim very proud of her. Shes a hard charger , extremelyintelligent , smart young woman but trying to raise a daughter that is so confident, knows her path forward and she has achieved that. Ihave to say she has achieved that so im very proud of her. Host following in her mothers footsteps. I think shell go on to do even more. Host senator, you wroteas a child your goals were to be a nurse and the farmers wife. It didnt turn out that way, did it. Guest one of thosethings was miss america to. So i was talking about that with a friend and i didnt become a nurse and i didnt become a farmers wife. And i didnt become miss america. My friend was like youre such an underachiever. So you know, our paths change and we certainly can look at various career fields through the eyes of a child and i so admire people that are in healthcare and a lot of that was maybe informed by my mother and my mother is not college educated. But she was the mother. 2 children had juvenile diabetes. My brother and my sister both had to live on insulin shots and they still do. I always watch my mother give mybrother and my sister there shots morning and evening. I just admire that she was caring for my brother and sister and i admire that about my mother that she was able to do so much with little and hold our family together. And ive always thought well, thats really noble. I want to go into health services. I chose a different career path. I ended up going into counseling and job training, working with various populations like those that had been underemployed or those thathad been longterm unemployed. And i really found my calling more in that area but you know, ive had so many great experiences through my lifetime and while i accept those goals asa child , i know that i made significant differences in my state and in my nation but by taking a different career. How did the militarybecome part of your life for 23 years. I had always had this friend. The gentleman that sold the, livestock feed to my family was in the National Guard and he was a recruiter. So as a young girl we always used to say ill come talk to you aboutthe National Guard or o jerry, i dont think i can do that. So the seeds were planted. My father had served in the National Guard many many years ago area i dont really remember that training of his life so much. Just the story. But what really took me into the military was an oddly enough and Agricultural Exchange to the soviet union. In the 1980s. A 1980s area and on that exchange what i found with with a bunch of students we live on a collective farm in ukraine. And the family i stayed with and have a car. No refrigerator, no Running Water so no indoor plumbing. I could go on and on about what they didnt have. And even though i grew up on a very small farm i had a refrigerator. I had a telephone. I had Running Water. We had tractors. They didnt have thosethings. No 2 different worlds and i thought my gosh, it would offer the same level of opportunityand that wasnt true in the soviet union. So when we got together the iowa students and we got together with that collective group of citizens and we went to the Community Halls that first night. The first question i wanted to know was what is it like to be an american . And its just struck me i think at that point that so many people want what wehave in this great nation. A desire it, they hunger for it. And through the course of that exchange , its really emphasized me how proud i am of the values and freedoms and opportunities this country gives us and i decided and again, i was 19 years old but i decided i dont want to take it for granted anymore. I have to get back to my country. So when i got back to iowa that fall i started exploring the opportunity of army rotc joined the rotc program. And went on to serve in 2030 years in the army reserve in the iowa army National Guard and it truly was one of the greatest honors of my life to serve my country and my state and uniform. You are the first female, veteran serve as United States senator. He saw action in iraq, tell us about it. We were stationed in the way and i was the commander of a transportation company. So we would deliver supplies, we pick supplies up at the port. We would take them warehouses inchoate area maybe broken into various logistical packages and then we would deliver those supplies throughout kuwait and on into iraq toBaghdad International airport. As well as logistics based sites andmany other places like that , so little airport stages but it was a very difficult time. It was the first year of the war. We had just gone into the area it was very chaotic at that time. I guess is a good way to decide and on that first trip up into iraq, my company didnt even havemass. So what i did, i knew there was a National Guard unit that hadalready made a trip to Baghdad International airport. I went that Company Commander and asked if you would come give us everything and share with us the path we get to Baghdad International airport so he sat down with me and my First Sergeant and those that would be leading this mission and he pulled out his hand drawn map and he shared with us and my driver copy that hand drawn map down though that they would know where some of the physicallocations were on the route so we would make sure we got to the right place. But talk about flying by the seat of your pants. We are navigating the early part of the war through end with handdrawn maps. And my drivers, they would write down other things. They would annotate Different Things on their handdrawn maps and we share that information we got back into weight without other drivers so everybody had a good picture of where we were going. And eventually the post exchange got some random mcnally type maps and windows came in i went in with us my personal credit card and i bought all of them. Because if we couldnt have a map provided by the United States government, for heavens sakes at least we could have a randommcnally and it would get us where we needed to go. We may do with what we had and im very fortunate because there were a number of other iowa National Guard units that were deployed at that time you several of them were other transportation units and they were permanently stationed in iraq and i had the advantage. My unit was stationed in kuwait and we just ran missions backand forth. But those other units, i was so blessed becausewhen we redeployed i redeployed with my entire unit. And thats something we have to recognize that thats provided for all the way around and there are Different Levels of sacrifice and what those commanders went through , those sergeants went throughin losing culture it was devastating. And not all heroes wear, infantry practice. Some of them are truck drivers, some of them are supply sergeants. Were all vulnerable when we go into a combat zone. And so god bless them and i was just very fortunate to comehome with everyone. We mentioned you are the first email combat veteran to serve as a us senator and i would youre the first senator to ever be a. Probably. Yes, i was paid. I was a Battalion Commander and in that nearly 3 years that i served as a Battalion Commander, we had an annual training at fort mccoy with all of my units Work Together at one time. For that q. Week annual training. So i had my truck unit out there. I had my Maintenance Unit out there and then i had one company of military policeman area and we had this phenomenal e7. It was getting ready to exit the guard and i was trying to get him to reenlist. Again, just a phenomenal young leader and he said well, he said man, i will reenlist if i can page you because they had to go through taser training so i said okay, heres the deal. You can take me and youre going to reenlist so we did. We went into the taser training and i went through the training with the military Police Company and we had a really phenomenal Company Commander. He went first, he wantedto make sure it was the first one to be paid. So it was and then i was number two in the line that e7 to me, horrible experience. I dont recommend it for anyone but we did retain a brilliant young nco and so i was happy to gothrough it. But i was happy to go through it in order to keep one of the best and brightest of the army National Guard. Senator, who is hiding magnuson and why you spend a bit of time in your book writing about her. That was my first opponent in an a local election. And thats when i really understood the significance of running for elected office. We had a county auditor that was not respectful to the public. She wasnt respectful to the other elected officials in the county. And there was quite a stir over the job that she was doing in the county courthouse. And she had actually after one supervisor, the board of supervisors. The one, drop another supervisor. On the other supervisor. He was arrested was acquitted. It created an uproar. There was distrust, there was anger in our community and so i was asked to run against the incumbent. Republican auditor. And i did choose to engage in that election and we went through a very very Difficult Campaign cycle. Just very bizarre. But in the end, i did win the election. I assumed the position of county auditor and when i went into the office, or entire staff a quick so they left. I knew they were going to do that and that actually was okay because i was able to start fresh and hire my own staff on board but they had and see all the rolodex is and at that time we kept some phone numbers ofall the important contacts in texas. They had emptied out all the bullet taxes and replace them with blank cards. They had taken all the courthouse keys and dump them into one drawer completely unlabeled. I could go on and on but its shenanigans you wouldnt think that adults would engage in. And it was like a sigh of relief went through the county when i assumed the position. I made it a point to engage the other elected officials in the courthouse. We were able to open our doors to visitors and the public coming back in and its just was really kind of a time of healing. And much aboutbringing people together and finding a path forward. Rather than being ugly people. We can be kind to each other and we can show respect even when we dont agree area so it was a wonderful learning experience for me. I enjoyed so much working with the people in my home county and again at the very rural small counties but hearing some of the challenges that they had and the farmers and the public that would come in and just lean on my counter in my office and share the news of the day or the thoughts of the day. And all that you can take away by being of a Community Area and it was a real lesson in the ugliness of politics but then also the wonderful things that can be achieved in your all pulling in the same direction. From there to the state senate in 2014 to the United States senate. Was her husband at the time supportive of your political career . He was and it was often off and on. When it suitedhim yes. And when it didnt, number so it really became a bone of contention, especially once i got intothe United States senate. And while he was very used to being the center of everyones attention, he had a wonderful militarycareer. It was used to being that personin charge and admired by everyone. And i think through the course of being in the senate , the attention shifted and i was focused on work. But people were very focused on what i was working on and not what he was working on. So it became more of a jealousy i think and you know, it was really unfortunate. So the issues that already existed in our marriage just became exponentially that much bigger. And so while again, in public we all put on a smile. We all have that resiliency, the stiff upper lip as the American Farmer does. But it became so difficult and obviously hechose a different path. And we did divorce and it was heartbreaking for me to have spent 26 years with someone that i loved and then to be left behind with him taking on a new family immediately. It was very tough to deal with especially as im trying to work on legislation for iowa and parent for the next Campaign Season see one senator, when the Des Moines Register broke the news of your divorce a, did you feel violated andwhat was the reaction you got . Guest i did. I felt horribly violated and when the information came out about the Domestic Violence, the episode that had happened in my marriage, it was not something that i wanted to explain to my family why i would stay with a person that would abuse me like that. I didnt want my daughterto have to relive that experience. She was young when it happened. It was hurtful and i did. I felt violated. I wasnt ready to talk about some of the hurtful things that have happened in my life and i think that any survivor , any survivor should have the opportunity to decide when its right for him or her to tell their story. And i didnt have that opportunity. So i felt very bad about it. And was deeply upset about it. When i returned towashington dc i was really , really nervous about being cornered in the hallway because the press are merciless about following you down the hallway and asking you all kinds of questions and i was so nervous about it and my staff decided dont answer anyquestions, just keep walking. You dont have to listen to them so we got to the bottom of the stairs there and amazingly enough, they all just kind of step back. They lower their heads a little. A couple of them gave me what i would describe as kind of a shy smile and let me pass without saying a word. And i was very grateful. I was very grateful forthem. See one. Actions you write about in daughter of theheartland. President from and Bernie Sanders. Two extraordinary men, two totally different people. Of them reached out to me and President Trump called me. After he had learned about that information. And he was always, hes always been very good to me. And he was veryempathetic. And he just said youre going to do great things. We love you and im sorry this happened to you and the same from Bernie Sanders area economy outside of the dirksen building when we were walking back from both and he pulled me aside in private cause i had a staff member with me and he pulled me aside and he said joni, this never should have happened to you. Im sorry. So in the oddest of places you canfind comfort and support. And i think its what again, one of the important lessons is that we all need to understand where all human beings. All been through challenges. We all had significant works in our lifetime. And that we can still be supportive and care for one another as human beings. And thats what President Trump and senator sanders exhibited for me. Finally, you still force your staff tomarch with you 4 30 in the morning. We actually peter locke back the time. They now start at 5 am. And though its all volunteer , we still have a lot of people that turn out to engage in our marches down on the ball. And ive only had 2 other members of congress go with me. Martha and sally and thom tillis. Thom tillis, he made his entire staff go on that Early Morning march but after we did rock marches i present all the participants with my challenge coin. And they got done and they got a challenge and thom tillis told me later in the day they been grumbling about it before we started marching but he said later in the day its all they could talk about. I had writing rights and they were telling all the other offices they had gone out with senator ernst at five in the morning to go down on the mall. So it is a fun activity and its not about six really. Its just about honoring our veterans, experiencing the life of those War Memorials on the mall. Remembering them for their sacrifice and then just the, roderick and getting to know new friends. Unfortunately were out of time. Editor joni ernst, her new book is called daughter of the heartland. Shes a member of the Senate Leadership team as well. Thank you for joining us for a while on tv. Irises about the return from summer recess with the senate back in session this tuesday. Ill take up a number of judicial nominations starting with brett ludwig to be a judge for the houston district of wisconsin. As life today at 3 pm eastern. House return for business the following week with work expected on condemning antiasian bias during the covid, decriminalizing marijuana and reauthorizingus intelligence agencies. Two items not on the official schedule but we could see by the endof the week , a pair down covid package from republicans and a deal to fund the government asked september 30 when current funding levels expire. Whats the senate like this week on covid19. Lunch top nonfiction books and authors area today at 6 15 p. M. Eastern judy goal with her book yes i can say that. At seven, melissa horn and Jennifer Levitz on the College Admissions scandal with their book on accessible. 8 30 w. More with his five days. And at 10 30 p. M. Eastern , james the previous on his book sailing true north. What book tv this Labor Day Weekend on cspan2 and be sure to watch the all virtual 2010 a National Book festival live saturday, september 26 on tv. During a Virtual Event council on Foreign Relations president richard half talk about the state of the world and the Foreign Policy challenges facing the United States. Your portion of that discussion. I think the pandemic tells us first and foremost world matters. That perhaps an obvious thing or a member of the council on Foreign Relations but i dont think it obvious its an obvious thing for everybody the world matters, what happens around the world doesnt stay there and inthis case it was a small city in china in wuhan where a virus broke out. Worst ultimately spread throughchina and then spread to the United States and elsewhere around the world. In 9 11 was terrorists trade in afghanistan area and other various times it was what weve seen with Climate Change coming from everywhere. Financial contagion from this or that country so what this should tell us is these two oceans, the atlantic and pacific are not modes. Theres no drawbridge. Sovereignty, whatever else it is is not the same thing as security. We are affected by what happens inthe world. In our policy intern is how what we do affects theworld but the most Important Message to take here is the world matters and isolationism , then ill, sticking our head in the sand, whatever else you want to call it is not a serious survival strategy. You at length about the interconnectedness of the globe and the interdependence. How has the american response to this Global Crisis reflected some of the things that you bring, the notable absence for example of the us in the european can be to tackle the vaccine. This is not a good experience shall we say or demonstration of us connectedness to the world but it begins with the fact that were connected like an eye. Globalization is many things, its not a choice. Allie responded to joyce but globalization itself is a reality and as you say, we chose not to participate in the european led ever to pull resources, intellectual and financial workforce of vaccine. It seems to me that probably reduces the chance after it will succeed or succeed quickly, it also means it were to succeed we be very hardpressed to make the argument we ought to be force the front of the queue. I thinka lot of europeans would say you were there when we needed you. Now suddenly you need this , why should we favor you over others. So i think also more what probably hurt us as been the example we set. Its an important part of what foreignpolicy is about if not what diplomats say or do and if not what soldiers they are due as important as those things are. The example we set, the functioning and vibrancy of our democracy when we have a equality for all americans, when our economy rose at a healthy clip or in this case we respond to a foreign challenge no one around the world i think in the morning and says i want to do this just likeamerica. I respect how they are doing. Inconceivable that sentiment is being express. To watch the rest of this Program Visit our website booktv. Org insert richardhalf for the title of his book the world. Hi everyone, welcome and good evening. My name is nell cover and on behalf of Harvard Bookstore i am likely to introduce this Virtual Event with Alex Alexander keyssar presenting his book why do we still have the electoral college. Thank you for joining us virtually tonight through Virtual Events like tonight