June 19, 2013

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House speaker clears way for Farm Bill vote

June 13, 2013 By

The Farm Bill now has a major backer, one who can clear the way for a vote in the U.S. House. House Speaker John Boehner  announced on Wednesday that he would support the legislation when it comes up for consideration in the House.

“I’ve got concerns about the Farm Bill, as I told our members,” Boehner said Wednesday during a news conference in Washington, D.C. “But doing nothing means we get no changes in the farm program, no changes in the nutrition program and as a result I’m going to vote for the Farm Bill to make sure that the good work of the Agriculture Committee…gets to a conference so that we can get the kind of changes that people want in our nutrition programs and our farm programs.”

Last year Boehner would not bring the Farm Bill up for a vote, and congress resorted to a one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill. Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, said Wednesday prior to Boehner’s announcement, that he would continue call for a vote on the House version of the Farm Bill.

“I have always been consistent in maintaining that the speaker has the responsibility to bring a bipartisan farm bill to the floor. A bill that passed in the last congress with an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Senate. A bill that’s passed in this congress with an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Senate, and a bill that is absolutely critical to Iowa’s economy,” Braley said.

Braley said he was in a wait and see mode on an actual vote. “It was supposed to be coming to the floor for a vote next week, but indications are that it could be pulled from the calendar due to lack of support on his (Boehner’s) side of the aisle,” Braley said. “We are all anxious to see it come to the floor and hopefully it will get a bipartisan vote so we can go to conference with the Senate.”

The Senate passed its version of the farm bill Monday with a 66-27 vote. Congressman Steve King, a Republican from Kiron, said one of the things that will have to be worked out between the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill is the amount of cuts to food assistance or food stamp funding.

“With the House version we cut the nutritional side by 20-and-a-half-billion, so there’s 4-billion in the Senate versus 20-and-half in the House. They did only administrative cuts, we did program eligibility to try and keep the resources for the people that need it and deny it for the people that are gigging the system,” King said.

King said producers should be recognized for their willingness to give up direct payments in this version of the bill. “So they’re to be applauded for stepping up and taking that hit, I don’t know when that happens. That’s the big thing from this Farm Bill,” King says.

King says the balance in the new bill will save money and is the right direction for the future.

Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City contributed to this story.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

David Young, self-described “watchdog conservative,” enters U.S. Senate race

June 2, 2013 By
David Young files the paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate.

David Young files the paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate.

Senator Chuck Grassley’s chief of staff hopes to join Grassley in the U.S. Senate. David Young formally announced his candidacy for the Iowa Republican Party’s 2014 U.S. Senate nomination this weekend.

“My senate experience and working for Iowans can allow me to hit the ground running…I can be effective on getting things done, no matter which party’s in power,” Young said during a  telephone interview with Radio Iowa. “I’m an equal opportunity watchdog conservative.”

Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, announced in late January that he would not seek reelection in 2014.

Congressman Bruce Braley — a Democrat from Waterloo — launched his bid for the U.S. Senate in February, but Young is the first Republican to enter the race.

“When Senator Harkin announced his retirement I really didn’t think much of it in terms of getting into the race because I felt that there were some very formidable candidates — Latham, Reynolds, King, Northey, Schultz — who were probably going to take up this venture and it would have been foolish for me to even think about it,” Young said. “But as one by one kind of dropped out, I said to myself: ‘Here’s an opportunity to take your public service to another level.’”

Young, who is 45 years old, spent seven years working as Grassley’s chief of staff in Washington, D.C. Young recently quit that job, moved into a house in his hometown of Van Meter and he plans to run for the senate full-time.

“I”m conscious that I have to be my own man,” Young told Radio Iowa this evening. “A lot of people are going to probably see me out there being some kind of Chuck Grassley clone, but I’m David Young. He’s Chuck Grassley. We’re two different people and we don’t think the same on everything. I think I can be a real good check and balance against President Obama and the (Democrats) who control the senate because I really don’t like what’s going on and a lot of Iowans don’t like what’s going on either.”

Young’s family moved to Johnston when he was 15 and he graduated from Johnston High School. In 1991 Young graduated from Drake University. Young worked for two other Republican senators — Hank Brown of Colorado and Jim Bunning of Kentucky — before he landed a job in Grassley’s office.

“But I will say when I packed up my car and drove out to Washington, D.C. in 1993 the first door I banged on was Senator Grassley’s office because I really admire him,” Young said. “…There was no room in the inn, so to speak, so I found work elsewhere on Capitol Hill and then just seven years ago I was just really blessed to get a phone call from his chief of staff saying, ‘David, how would you like to come over and talk about being Senator Grassley’s chief of staff?’”

Young mailed in the paperwork for his own U.S. Senate campaign on Saturday. Young will face at least one competitor in next June’s primary. Matt Whitaker, a former U.S. Attorney and the Iowa Republican Party’s 2002 nominee for state treasurer, plans to formally announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate Monday in Ankeny.

Photo courtesy of Dan Young’s campaign.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Latham calls Senate immigration reform bill “a good start”

May 24, 2013 By

Republican Congressman Tom Latham says the U.S. Senate is making a “good start” on an immigration reform plan, but Latham would like to see changes in the proposal.

“I’m very pleased the Senate has finally had a debate in an open forum…five days in committee and they’re going to bring it to the floor and the House is going to do the same thing,” Latham says. “We’re not going to automatically pick up whatever the senate does.”

Latham says he has “real concerns” about the Senate’s approach.

“They’re talking about giving status to folks long before there’s ever any enforcement of immigration laws,” Latham says.

This week a coalition of Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee in the U.S. Senate voted for an immigration reform plan that would create a 13-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Latham says that plan should not be initiated until there’s proof the border is secure and a verification system must be in place so employers can check the status of potential workers.

“We’ve got to address the problem,” Latham says. “It is a broken system that’s caused a lot of heartache for a lot of families, but we’ve got to do it right.”

Latham made his comments during taping of the “Iowa Press” program that airs this evening on Iowa Public Television.

The Senate bill would create a new visa program for low-skilled workers in ag-related industries. It also raises the cap on the number of visas granted to highly skilled foreigners.

Iowa’s other Republican congressman — Steve King — has called the Senate bill a “terrible idea” that “rewards people who break the law.”

Filed Under: Featured Story, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

King would take Obamacare over immigration bill

May 14, 2013 By

Iowa Congressman Steve King has been a leader in attempts to repeal the federal health care law — saying he despises the law he calls Obamacare. But King said today the Senate immigration bill is much worse.

“If it was somehow that there was an offer that you are going to get one or the other and you have to choose one, I would take Obamacare and try to live with that before I’d ever accept this amnesty plan,” King said. “Because this amnesty plan is far, far worse than Obamacare.”

King, a Republican from Kiron, said the difference in the two plans is that one can be fixed, but the other can’t.

“We can repeal Obamacare, we can over time pay for it, we can over time get back our doctor/patient relationship. But, if this amnesty goes through, there’s no undoing it. The genie on the left has escaped and he will be as amorphous as a puff of smoke. You will not get him back in that bottle and we will have to live with this in the American civilization and culture in perpetuity,” King said.

King made his comments at a news conference today with seven other congressmen who are also against the Senate immigration plan.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Congressman King says Gang of Eight bill is almost complete amnesty for illegals

May 14, 2013 By
Steve King

Steve King

Iowan Steve King is one of eight U.S. House members who are speaking out today in opposition to the immigration reform bill backed by the group of Senators known as the “Gang of Eight.”

King, a Republican from Kiron, says the Gang of Eight proposal is not a solution.

“People think that they’re trying to somehow shape a way to solve the immigration problem. Well, remember how you could simply solve the lawlessness problem if you abolish all the laws and you wouldn’t have the lawlessness problem anymore?,” King asked. “That’s essentially what they are doing with this bill.”

King says people are starting to realize the bill is not just a little tweak or adjustment to immigration law. “It is almost total and complete amnesty. It legalizes everyone who is here illegally, everyone who has been deported from the United States, and everyone who could come into the United States afterwards, there’s a promise that they could be legalized too,” according to King.

King says nothing will be done to stop the inflow of illegal aliens. “They say that they are going to secure the border, but we’ve seen those promises since 1986. I can tell you that Barack Obama has no intention of securing the border. But he does have an intention of getting a political gain out of this amnesty bill,” King says.

“What’s amazing to me is how so many Republicans don’t understand what I’ve just said. King is leading a news conference in Washington, D.C. today where he will speak out on the bill along with the other seven congressmen.

The others who are joining King are: Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama, Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana, Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas, Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona, Congressman Steve Stockman of Texas and Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas.

By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

King, Grassley speak of “once-in-a-generation” chance to seat GOP senator from Iowa

May 12, 2013 By

Congressman Steve King spoke to a gathering of more than 500 eastern Iowa Republicans Friday night and explained his decision not to run for the U.S. Senate.

“I will tell you that one of the reasons that I said no on the race of the United States Senate was I cannot take myself out of the arena of the United States House for the next 18-20 months,” King said.

King said he’ll stay in the House to fight Democrats and other Republicans who are pressing for “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. King said he is ”dedicated” to helping elect another Republican from Iowa to the U.S. Senate.

“Puts an end to this Tom Harkin cancelling out Chuck Grassley’s vote for a generation of a time,” King said. “What sense did that ever make?”

Senator Chuck Grassley also talked with the crowd about the “once-in-a-generation” opportunity Republicans have at an open U.S. Senate seat after Democrat Tom Harkin announced he won’t run again in 2014.

“Washington is long, long overdue to get its fiscal house in order and gettin’ rid of a liberal U.S. Senator and getting us a Republican senator will go a long ways to change that,” Grassley said.

Listen to the speeches from Grassley and King here.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, was the event’s main speaker.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Lieutenant Governor encouraging Ernst to run for U.S. Senate (AUDIO)

May 6, 2013 By
Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds during her weekly meeting with reporters.

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds during her weekly meeting with reporters.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says she is encouraging the woman who took her seat in the Iowa Senate to consider running for the U.S. Senate.

“I’ve always been involved in encouraging and strengthening the bench of the Iowa Republicans Party and especially encouraging females to get involved in the political process,” Reynolds says, “and so I don’t think it would be uncharacteristic of me to reach out to Senator Ernst.”

Republican Joni Ernst of Red Oak won a special election in January, 2011 for the state senate seat Reynolds left when Reynolds became Iowa’s lieutenant governor.

“I encouraged Joni to seek that position and she was successful and really it goes back further than that,” Reynolds says.

“When she was deployed…through email we were connecting back and forth and I was encouraging her to run for the county auditor’s position, so our history goes way back in working together and really just encouraging qualified people to run for office, so she just hits it out of the park on both issues.”

AUDIO of news conference at which Reynolds made her comments, runs 9:26

Ernst, a member of the Iowa National Guard, was deployed to Kuwait 10 years ago. Ernst served as Montgomery County’s Auditor for six years, from 2005 through 2011. Ernst said in late April that she was considering a run for the U.S. Senate, but waiting for Congressman Steve King’s decision.

King announced late Friday night that he would not run for the Senate. Republican Congressman Tom Latham, State Ag Secretary Bill Northey and the lieutenant governor herself have all decided against entering the Senate race. Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley is the only announced candidate. Senator Tom Harkin announced in late January that he would not seek reelection in 2014.

Photo courtesy of Lt. Governor’s office.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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