Our country is only as strong as our families, kids, and seniors. That’s why I’m working on policies to improve education opportunities, support foster services, improve community safety, and defend livelihood programs like Social Security and Medicare. 

As the father of six young children, I know firsthand that education is the foundation of our children’s future, from early childhood to higher education and the skilled trades. Whether in the Des Moines metro or rural Iowa, families deserve a top-tier education system where success is never dictated by a zip code or socio-economic background. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning. Iowa is fortunate to have a strong educational system with public schools, private schools, homeschooling, hybrid options, and vocational programs. While we have a duty to ensure our public schools serve every student effectively, parents must also have the freedom and options to choose the best learning environment if their child’s needs aren’t being met—whether that leads to a four-year college or a career in the trades. That’s why, in Congress, I am fighting to put parents and kids first by empowering families and educators with the tools to build an education system that secures America’s future. 

My wife and I are blessed to have 6 children with 2 of our children being foster children who we’ve now adopted. I strongly believe that every single child is deserving of a good shot at life, which is why I’m working in Congress to improve our nation’s foster and adoptive services. As a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, I am working across the aisle to connect foster and adoptive services with willing and eager families. Specifically, for our kids in the system, I am working to find better ways to keep families together and set our youth up for long-term success. That means keeping siblings together, as my family did, expanding kinship care with extended relatives, and giving older youth aging out of foster care the tools they need to achieve independence and success. But caring for our kids is only part of the story; I am also backing the loving families who step up to adopt by cutting red tape and easing regulatory burdens on foster and adoption services.

Additionally, in order to have a prosperous country, we must also have safe communities for our families. To that end, we must support our law enforcement and give them the proper training needed to do their job. We also need to work on reforming our criminal justice system. With domestic violence cases on the rise, human trafficking more prevalent, and gang violence peaking across the country, we can do more to stop these heinous crimes. I worked in the Iowa Statehouse to protect victims of domestic violence, stop human trafficking, and address mental health issues. I am continuing this work now in Washington D.C. 

Finally, when it comes to supporting our community’s seniors, nothing is more important than ensuring that a lifetime of earned benefits are still intact for retirement and future retirees. Iowans have worked hard for the benefits they’ve earned. That’s why I strongly oppose cuts to these programs and will continue to defend Social Security and Medicare in Congress. Along with defending promised programs, we should be looking at ways to lower the cost of prescription drugs because having affordable health care is critically important for every Iowan.