The Bill is Passed: Capitol Solutions

Statement

Iowa's Third District is a dynamic and diverse district. It has the most populous county in the state -- Polk County -- and the least populous county in the state -- Adams County. There are businesses of every kind and every size, families who have lived here for generations and new families from countries around the world. It encompasses 16 counties -- the sweet sixteen as I like to call them -- which stretch from Mitchellville to Hamburg.

And I work in Congress to do my best to address many federal issues, no matter how many people it affects.

When speaking with Iowans living in rural parts of the Third District, they share with me their feelings their voices aren't heard in Congress. They feel as though they are sometimes being left behind - or not made a priority. As urban centers grow and have access to the latest technologies and services, folks in rural areas have phone calls that are dropped, looped, or of such poor quality they can't communicate with the person on the other end of the line.

The problem of poor call connections is why I introduced the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act in 2015. This bill requires companies connecting calls between larger networks and local providers to meet fundamental and important quality standards. My bipartisan bill passed the House of Representatives in 2016, but not the Senate. I reintroduced it in 2017 and it passed just weeks later. And finally, by working in a bipartisan way with Senators Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thune (R-SD), the bill passed the Senate with a few changes and passed the House for the third time on February 9, 2017. It was then sent to President Trump for his signature into law.

I've also been working on a long-term funding solution for our Community Health Centers. Across the Third District, in rural and more urban areas, 50,000 folks rely on Community Health Centers for their health care needs. Funding for these centers lapsed at the end of September, but before it did, I joined three other colleagues to propose an extension of its funding.

I led letters, worked with my colleagues, pressured leadership, and used the voices and stories of the Iowans I represent to work on advancing a long-term solution. When the House and Senate passed a recent budget deal, a two-year extension of Community Health Center funding was included, giving some certainty and relief for those who need them. But two years is not long enough. I will continue working on a longer term solution for Iowans.

A recent publication showed two-thirds of farmers say the cost of health insurance poses the greatest threat to their livelihood. When I'm speaking with folks across the Third District, I hear from those who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and I share in their joys. However, I hear from too many others who have been hurt by the law, especially farming families. They have been hit hard by skyrocketing premiums and deductibles.

I've continued to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to try and bring back and stabilize health insurance markets and provide relief families need. Families are struggling because of a problem created by the government. This is why we must all work together to find a solution.

No issue is too big or too small for us all to come together and fix -- this is the Iowa way and why I am in every county in the Third District every month speaking with Iowans about their ideas, their concerns, and their stories. Whether in Polk County or Adams County, I take the voices of Iowans to Washington to make sure they are heard when Congress considers the issues -- big and small --our communities face.

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