Rep. Feenstra talks economy, finance with MHS students
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Class was in session at the Marshalltown High School library on Tuesday as U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) addressed the economy and federal finance system with a group of MHS seniors and soon-to-be voters.
Feenstra spoke to students about current inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, federal monetary policy, and impending discussions of raising the national debt ceiling.
Yet, the conference with students was largely nonpartisan in nature, and conversation leaned more towards explaining to students the role of government in the U.S. financial system and the future role students will play as part of the larger economic apparatus.
As Feenstra said, the ultimate goal and lasting impression he hoped to make on students was to help them recognize the opportunities that lay before them as young people in the U.S.
"The bottom line is that I want everybody to understand that when you live in America, you can decide your future. You can decide what you want to be," Feenstra said. "You can decide at an early age you have to have a certain education to do certain things, you have to have certain skills to do certain things. But in America, you can decide that and you can decide what you want to be, how successful you want to be. Obviously, there's some risk, but I want kids to understand their ability right here in our great nation."
The visit with MHS students was part of the congressman's regular 36 county tour, and many of the topics Feenstra spoke with students about, such as inflation, taxes, and government spending, also weigh heavily on the minds of the constituents he has been meeting, according to the Congressman.
"I've talked to the kids about the cost of inflation, the cost of buying gas, the cost of buying food. I hear that a lot from our small businesses and families," Feenstra said. "Obviously, the other big thing, because we're in an Ag state, is the cost of agriculture, of putting in that new crop this year, especially when all those inputs are really high."
Particularly important this year for farmers and the Iowa agriculture community is the potential passing of the upcoming Farm Bill, which is set to be tackled by Congress this year.
The bill is a package of legislation passed roughly once every five years that has a wide reaching impact on farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kinds of foods are grown.
The past farm bill, titled the Agriculture Improvement Act, was enacted in 2018 and expires in 2023.
Feenstra, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, has had a front row seat to the proceedings and continued creation of the legislation, and he says the bill is shaping up to help farmers with protections through insurance, biofuel growth, and the recent Waters of the U.S. Rule, which is the culmination of a long-anticipated rulemaking process to define the geographic reach of the agencies' authority in regulating streams, wetlands and other water bodies under the Clean Waters Act.
"The big things on the farm bill, but especially for Iowa, is protections for our producers through insurance, number one," Feenstra said, "Number two is making sure that we continue to grow biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel, and then also that we work on things like Waters of the U.S. the regulatory issues that are happening. So these are sort of the key components to the farm bill along with research with creating more added value to our farming community and conservation."
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Contact Nick Baur at 641-753-6611 or nbaur@timesrepublican.com.