Friend, 

This week, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mike Bost, joined me to hear directly from veterans in Iowa and learn more about our VA system. Despite the chaos and dysfunction in DC, we’ve had success working across the aisle to ensure our veterans are receiving the care they deserve. 

We promise our veterans that we will take care of them when they return home, and there is still a lot of work to do to live up to that promise, especially when it comes to mental health care access for veterans. 

Not all war wounds are visible, and I believe we need to treat mental and emotional scars with the same urgency that we do physical wounds. 

Our veterans are the best of our nation, and I’ll work with anyone who will work with me to ensure they receive the full scope of benefits and care they deserve. Read on below for more information about our stops this week!

Best,

Iowa City VA Medical Center

We started with a tour of the Iowa City VA Medical Center. We discussed staff shortages, their work to improve the culture at the VA, their innovative transplant programs, and the importance of providing the best possible care to our veterans. 

Next, we visited the Freedom Foundation in Cedar Rapids. Ranking Member Bost and I loved seeing their “veterans helping veterans” approach firsthand. We discussed the different VA resources and programs available to help veterans with mental health care, dental care, and toxic substance exposure. 

We ended the day with a roundtable with veteran service officers and local nonprofit leaders. We heard directly about the challenges they face in serving our veterans, including red tape at the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

I'm proud to announce that this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is awarding $9.8 million to the City of Marion for derecho relief efforts. The cleanup and recovery process from the derecho is ongoing, and our communities still need assistance. Following my advocacy on the House Appropriations Committee, we've been able to bring tens of millions of dollars home to help with derecho relief. In Congress, I will continue working to bring disaster recovery resources home and working across the aisle on forward-looking resiliency initiatives.

Thank you to everyone who joined our telephone town hall last night and took time out of their evening to participate in our conversation. I took questions on inflation, the Biden Administration’s proposal to “cancel” student loan debt, and how we can regain our energy independence. As I continue to hear from Iowans, one thing is abundantly clear: families are suffering under one-party Democratic rule in Washington and want a check on the Biden Administration’s reckless agenda.

I asked those on the call last night to share with me their thoughts on what they believe I should prioritize in Congress. Here are the results:

Restoring energy independence - 38%

Inflation and cutting taxes - 28%

National security and foreign policy - 22%

Education - 12%

We had a very productive day at the Farm Progress Show this week! Iowa farmers feed and fuel the world - it was great to celebrate Iowa agriculture and learn more about the cutting edge technology farmers are implementing.

I joined The Big Show and Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network live from the Farm Progress Show to discuss what I am working on in Congress to support Iowa agriculture and biofuels producers. Click below to listen!

I got to see a John Deere Series 7 Tractor, which is made in Waterloo! So proud to represent John Deere workers in Waterloo and across Eastern Iowa who make it possible for farmers to feed and fuel the world.

Enjoyed catching up with the Grinnell Rotary Club this week to learn more about their upcoming projects and discuss ways we can continue to work together to keep Grinnell a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Thanks for having me!

My team attended the ribbon cutting for the corn maze at Bloomsbury Farm in Atkins. They partnered with Camp Courageous this year to cut the ribbon!

Ogden & Adams Building Solutions opened their doors this week in Hiawatha - welcome!

📰 Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network: Hinson talks ag innovation at Farm Progress Show

📰 The Waukon Standard: Congresswoman Ashley Hinson visits VMH