T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ - U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) held a town hall Saturday morning at the Iowa Veterans Home - Whitehill Auditorium as part of her 99 County Tour for 2019. Ernst took questions from constituents, answering concerns ranging from tariffs, prescription drug reform, the national debt, the future of Social Security and the Mueller Report findings.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) held a town hall Saturday morning at the Iowa Veterans Home – Whitehill Auditorium as part of her 99 County Tour for 2019. Ernst took questions from constituents, answering concerns ranging from tariffs, prescription drug reform, national debt, the future of Social Security and the Mueller Report findings.

Ernst and Iowa senator Chuck Grassley have both called for the Trump Administration to remove the tariffs it imposed on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.

“We’re going to have to keep working on him (President Donald Trump), and keep the pressure mounting. What I’ve done is get specific examples from manufacturers or from farmers on how this is impacting their family, and then I take those back to the president … Let’s remove those tariffs,” she said.

The senator told an audience member she shared her concerns about the rising costs of pharmaceutical drugs and how manufacturers pay off other companies to deter them from creating cheaper, generic alternatives.

“Is that right? No. Those are the issues we’re looking at. They’re paying off other people to keep competition out of the way,” Ernst said.

With the national debt now exceeding $22 trillion, several people in the audience spoke about concerns.

“A lot of that is because Congress is not doing the proper budgeting. They’re not going through the appropriations process as they should,” Ernst said. “Looking at that last year, the bipartisan plan was to establish a joint, select committee between the House and the Senate. Four Republicans and four Democrats from each one. I was one of the Republicans from the Senate … The problem is who wants to talk about budget appropriations process reform? While we can do our own news releases, the media doesn’t want to pick up on that. It’s not one of the big, sexy topics of the day.”

Ernst said she believes in avoiding government shutdowns over budget disagreements. She is a supporter of the No Budget, No Recess Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from leaving Washington if it fails to pass a budget on time.

She said she believes in reaching across the political aisle to achieve results.

“I have to keep reaching out. I do have a number of very dear friends that are in the Democratic conference, and so I try to reach out when I know what their passions are, and if we share a passion, we should work on that together. An example is that (Sen.) Elizabeth Warren and I worked on a traumatic brain injury bill for veterans. Why wouldn’t I work with Elizabeth when that’s an issue I think we really need to be attentive to?” she said.

When asked about her position on gerrymandering – a practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by changing district boundaries – she said other states should follow Iowa’s strategy, which involves a nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency that draws the district boundaries for state legislative and congressional seats.

An attendee asked the senator if she would publicly criticize Trump for his handling of the Mueller Report, the Department of Justice’s two-year investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 election.

“I will conduct myself in a way that shows dignity and respect to other people, and I would encourage the president to do the same, but he is his own person. He is responsible for himself. I will be responsible for my actions,” Ernst said.

While she believes Social Security needs reforming, she did not want to endorse one single idea at this time.

“I’d hate to make a decision without having expert input, but all the experts and stakeholders should be involved in the discussions as well. What does it mean for our seniors, younger workers and businesses,” she said.

Taking notes as people spoke, Ernst said she will personally follow-up with folks as she investigates ways in which to address some of their concerns.

“She does a really nice job as presenting herself as pragmatic and reasonable and a hard worker. I believe she is a hard worker,” Jeannine Seigel Grady of Marshalltown said. “I was disappointed in her answers about the special council, because I think it’s her job to get to the truth. I thought she was evasive, but I doubt (the answer) would be any different if the tables were turned with another party.”

Denny Beckman of Timber Creek Township said he is a supporter of the senator and her policies.

“(The town hall) was educational. I got a lot out of it. I’m a supporter of the senator and like her policies,” he said.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at 641-753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com