Senator Ernst Talks about Her Election Last Fall & Priorities for the Coming Year
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (IA) appeared before a breakfast discussion of The Ripon Society yesterday morning, delivering a speech about her election to the Senate last fall, the experience she brings to the job, and how she and other members of the Republican Class of 2014 are working to “move this country forward” in the coming years.
“My parents taught me the value of a dollar and not to spend more than our family was taking in,” Ernst stated. “It’s those lessons in life and working hard that really brought me to where I am today. Years ago, if you would have asked if I’d ever see myself serving in the United States Senate, I probably would have laughed. Because even though I’ve felt that I could do anything that I set my mind to, just the likelihood that someone from a small, rural town would grow up and become a United States Senator seemed so far off. Having that drive and determination that came from my parents brought me to where I am today.”
Recalling her early years in elective office, she continued: “I worked in local government and moved on to the State Senate, where we worked very hard to balance our budget. When I went into office, we had a budget deficit of nearly $900 million. In Iowa, that’s a lot. After serving there for four years, we had managed to balance the budget each of those years. And after those four years, we had nearly a $1 billion budget surplus.”
In addition to discussing her experience serving the people of Iowa in elective office, Ernst also discussed her more than 20 years of service as a member of the United States Army Reserve and the Iowa State National Guard.
“I am a Lieutenant Colonel,” she said. “I’ve been a platoon leader and I’ve held company command. During my company command, we were deployed overseas to Kuwait and Iraq. I was a company commander for a transportation company, so we spent a lot of very long hours out on the road hauling supplies to our warriors that were serving up north in Iraq. It was a very humbling experience. It was the worst of times and it was the best of times, too.
“I took away a lot from that deployment. The military means a lot to me. My husband is also a 28-year active duty veteran. He retired a number of years ago. We have a lifetime of service between us. I continue to enjoy it. I will be retiring, however, next June. I have decided that my time in the Senate is very precious, and every minute of every day is very important to stay focused. I absolutely have to have time for my family, as well. I’ll hang up my boots next summer and look forward to whatever the future brings after that.”
Ernst noted that other Members of the Senate Republican freshman class also served their country in uniform, and – pointing to the different backgrounds of her new colleagues – added that the Class of 2014 not only represents a “broad swath of the United States,” but a class that is working to move “the country forward” in the years ahead.
“Dan Sullivan of Alaska continues to serve as a Marine Reservist,” she observed, “and we have Tom Cotton of Arkansas who has also served in the active duty Army forces. It’s been nice to get to know them. But we also have in the freshmen class a doctor, a youth group leader, and many private business owners and business people. It is exciting that we have such a wide variety of talents who are coming into the Senate. We all bring a little something to the table. We are a younger group of Senators, so if you look across the spectrum of the United States Senate, you will see that the Republicans have an exciting, diverse group of energetic, participating Senators. If you look at the other side, it’s not as dynamic and maybe not as exciting. We represent a broad swath of the United States. And I think that’s what we have to emphasize to our voters.
“We’re not the typical Republican Party of yesteryear. We have ideas, and we have thoughts on how to make America vibrant, grow our economy, downsize government, and keep our nation strong militarily. Those are the things our voters care about. That’s what excites them, and that’s what’s going to get them to the polls. I love being a part of the solution because for so long we have had incompetence and dysfunction here in Washington, D.C. We are beyond that now with a Republican majority in the House and a Republican majority in the Senate. We have a wonderful working relationship. That doesn’t mean we are going to agree on everything, but it does mean we are moving forward. And that’s exactly why I ran for office. We have to move this country forward.”
To that end, Ernst mentioned some of the legislation she is working on that will help do just that, including a measure to eliminate the health insurance tax and the SCRUB Act to reduce government overregulation. She also discussed another cost-cutting measure she is supporting to reduce the benefits that former U.S. Presidents receive. “We support them when they are out of office with a number of different types of perks,” she said of the bill. “What this legislation would do is reduce the level of payment that goes to those offices. This is not about Republicans, and it’s not about Democrats. But our former presidents do make a lot of money with their book deals and speeches. Why should taxpayers foot the bill for them to have a big fancy office in New York City or somewhere else? This doesn’t apply to their personal protection. It just applies to some of those additional perks.”
Ernst concluded her remarks where she began them – by talking about Iowa, and the fact that she was in the middle of a 99-county tour of her home state.
“I enjoy it so much,” she said of the tour. “I go out on those trips and the people of Iowa just renew my faith that we are headed in the right direction. Having their confidence and trust here in Washington, D.C. means the world to me. So I will always take that to heart, work very hard for them, and work for the betterment of the United States of America.”
To view the complete remarks of Senator Ernst before The Ripon Society’s breakfast discussion yesterday morning, please click on the link below:
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.