Sen. Joni Ernst visits S.E. Iowa, comments on Middle East war and VP Harris’s fiscal plan

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Iowa — U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) made a stop in the Heartland on Tuesday to visit a dairy farm in Van Buren County.

The senator wanted to gain insight into the daily operations and challenges faced by local farmers.

Ernst spoke with farm owners to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and explore possible ways she could support their work.

During her visit, KTVO was able to ask Ernst about her views on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and how she would like it to be resolved.

“Number one is getting our hostages back,” said Sen. Ernst. “We have eight Americans that are still being held by Hamas. The war needs to end but in order to do that, we also need to see Hamas destroyed. So in discussions that I’ve had with leaders from Egypt, from Qatar, from Israel, from UAE, Bahrain, all of these countries, we need to keep the pressure on Hamas and we need to get to the root of it, which is Iran. They are funding these terrorist proxies. They’re trying to destroy Israel.”

Sen. Ernst also gave her thoughts on Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic plan, where she expressed skepticism and raised concerns about its potential impact on the economy.

“It is not a good plan at all and it seems that what she is proposing is just simply that the government give all kinds of grants to help people whether it’s purchasing homes, what have you,” Sen. Ernst added. “Somebody has to pay for that and that’s all of these other hardworking folks that have worked to make their own way and now she wants to take all of that and give it to others that haven’t made their own way. So I don’t think it’s a good plan. I think it’s disastrous. I’ve heard other economists say that this is not healthy for our economy.”

Sen. Ernst also gives her thoughts on the EATS Act and responded to those who have concerns that it will do more harm than good if it is added into the farm bill.

You can catch that conversation later this week on KTVO News.