On Wednesday April 23, as part of my 36 County Tour, I visited the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH) in Marshalltown with Commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, Todd Jacobus. I had a phenomenal tour of their facilities, met with incredible staff, and spoke with countless veterans, thanking these amazing American heroes for their service to our country. As a grateful nation, it is our duty to provide our veterans with the high-quality healthcare and benefits that they have earned and deserve. They are owed nothing less for making unthinkable sacrifices on behalf of the stars and stripes.

IVH is truly the gold standard of long-term care for our veterans. I was thoroughly impressed with the amenities and the care provided – a standard that far surpasses what could ever be expected of the roughly 700 employees who dedicate their time and talents to the nearly 400 residents. While its waiting list is a testament to IVH’s commitment to excellence, it is also a reminder that Congress has a role to play in delivering quality, affordable, and accessible care for our nation’s heroes.

Representing Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, ensuring that our veterans are taken care of is a top priority for me. It’s why I’ve voted to help homeless veterans find shelter, expand mental health care for our veterans in rural communities, and ensure that veterans who were exposed to toxic hazards – like burn pits, radiation, and Agent Orange – and later developed illnesses like cancer receive the high-quality care and treatment that they need. I have also supported legislation to help veterans more easily access their VA home loan options, tie cost-of-living increases for VA benefits to Social Security adjustments, help veterans who are victims of fraud recover their stolen benefits, and connect veterans with job opportunities near their homes.

In 2023, I voted for the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act. This bill included an amendment that I sponsored, which requires the Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office – whose creation is authorized as part of this comprehensive package – to include the Veterans Crisis Line as an entity to provide rapid, post-crisis follow-up care to veterans who need it. I further supported two bills that ensure our veterans receive the educational resources that they were promised and expedite the approval process of veterans’ benefit claims. The Veterans Benefits Improvement Act would increase the number of judges on the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims to expedite benefit claims and the Veterans Education Oversight Expansion Act would strengthen reporting requirements for educational institutions that offer programs to veterans, ensuring that veterans’ GI Bill benefits are fully restored should an educational program prove fraudulent.

More recently, I voted for the Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans Act to help veterans start their own businesses, the Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act to assess the prevalence of bile duct cancer in Vietnam veterans, and the Clear Communication for Veterans Claims Act to ensure veterans receive clear communications from the VA on how to claim the benefits they earned.

Our veterans selflessly answered the call to serve our nation and defend our freedoms from those who would threaten the safety and wellbeing of the American people. Iowa veterans will always have an ally in me.

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Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, represents

Iowa’s Fourth District in the U.S. House.