DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, spoke to members of the media on a press call shortly after arriving back in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. Her week included attending the presidential inauguration and voting for the waiver that allows retired Army General Lloyd Austin to serve as Secretary of Defense.
“I want to thank all the law enforcement who helped to keep our nation’s capital safe throughout this week, and, and during the inauguration ceremony as well. I felt completely safe being there and privileged to be able to take part in that. I’d like to give a special shout out as well to our members of our Iowa National Guard who traveled to D.C., and they stepped up to serve this week. I had the opportunity to actually meet with a few of them yesterday, right outside of the Capitol, they were guarding until two in the morning. So I wanted to thank them for being here and was truly grateful for all that they did to keep us safe at the Capitol,” Hinson said.
She said that she desires to find some common ground with the Biden Administration, and in that spirit, she co-signed a letter to the president with 16 other freshman members of Congress.
“Number one, I wanted to congratulate him and offer to work together on issues that matter to the American people and to Iowans. People are sick of partisan gridlock in Washington, DC. So it goes without saying that anytime I can work across the aisle or with the administration to benefit Iowans, I absolutely will do that. I know that there are still going to be plenty of areas that I expect we’ll disagree. So I plan to not back down from those fights as well,” Hinson said.
She hoped to see a targeted COVID-19 package from the Biden Administration. She was disappointed by a proposal that mandated a $15/hour minimum wage.
“I know that would decimate our rural economy, and it would hurt Iowa businesses and a lot of small businesses. And I think right now there are a lot of small businesses that couldn’t take that hit. So I hope we’re again able to get some sort of a targeted release option moving forward,” Hinson explained.
She was also disappointed by the partisan approach to immigration and some of the far-left policy proposals included in Biden’s initial executive orders. She wants to see more policy ideas that will unite Americans instead of divide them.
Hinson said one immediate request she has for the president is to revoke the small refinery waivers granted by the Trump Administration shortly before President Trump’s term ended.
“The Trump administration promised not to grant those waivers. And my colleagues and I wrote them a letter asking them to follow through on that commitment. Unfortunately, they did grant those waivers. And in my opinion, that was a slap in the face to the biofuel producers here in Iowa. The Biden administration, the way I see it; they have an opportunity to right this wrong. They could revoke the waivers immediately,” she said.
Hinson believes revoking the waivers will help preserve the integrity of the renewable fuel standard.
Regarding Biden’s Secretary of Defense designee, she said she believed Austin was the right man for the job in this administration. Hinson said she was upset when Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent everyone home to their districts for the next week after only taking one vote.
“There was plenty for us to be working on right now. I think we should be in session, doing our job next week. And instead, she’s sent us back home. So I’m going to make the most of my time back in the district here in Iowa. I’m going to be traveling out throughout the district to hear directly from constituents and continue to find ideas on how I can serve folks in D.C.,” Hinson said.
After opening the call up for questions, she was asked about Biden’s proposed pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“I think both sides have really failed on dealing with this issue. And I’m hopeful that we can come to the table and get something done on it because I think proposals that are too far on either side are not the right path for us,” Hinson answered.
“We haven’t seen a bill on it yet. But as to what we’re hearing about his proposal, it’s open borders. It’s harmful to our legal immigration system. Blanket amnesty is not the answer. And I think these actions that would provide mass amnesty for illegal immigrants really weaken our enforcement mechanisms,” she explained.
She stated that she believes halting construction on the border wall on the southern border wall is wrong for the country in light of the economic crisis. Instead, she wants to find ways to improve the legal immigration process to help small businesses while respecting immigrants who came to the United States legally.
“I’ve heard time and time again, from folks that I’ve been talking to out in the district, we need to work on our guest worker programs. And I didn’t see anything about those fixes that are needed in any of the proposals that I’ve seen,” Hinson said.
She does not support a $15/hour minimum wage but is open to looking at other proposals.
“We need to take a look at increasing the minimum wage. What that amount needs to be, I don’t know, but I want to listen to economic experts on that,” Hinson said, adding that as a state legislator, she saw proposals of $8.40 to $10.10 per hour.
“I’ll take a look at all those policy proposals, but I don’t think $15 is the right amount,” she added.
Hinson was asked if she spoke to Gov. Kim Reynolds about Iowa’s COVID-19 vaccine allotment that Reynolds addressed on Thursday.
She said she didn’t speak with the governor but was briefed about the call that she was on. She said it is an issue she’s worked with other representatives on, including sending a letter with U.S. Rep. Cindy Anxe, D-Iowa, to point out the needs rural Iowans have.
“So it’s definitely on my mind and looking into it to see what we can do to make sure Iowa gets the allotment of vaccine that it needs,” Hinson said.
Hinson also said she plans to be vaccinated but did not want to skip ahead in line ahead of someone who needs to get it. Hinson tested positive for COVID-19 in November.
There was a controversy after the inauguration about National Guard troops’ status and lack of decent accommodations. Over 150 have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Iowa Torch asked if they still needed to be there now that the inauguration is over.
Hinson said the commander of the Iowa National Guard troops she met with this week indicated they might head back to Iowa early next week.
“Again, I felt safe. I saw barriers being taken down as I as I was leaving town. So I know that the threat still exists, I think, from what I understand in some cases, but I’m not sure that we still need a massive guard force. But again, I would look to the national security experts on that one. They know what level we need. I’m hopeful that they are able to come home soon. And I’m grateful for their service and keeping us safe,” she told The Iowa Torch.
The call circled back to immigration, and Hinson was asked what policy could both sides of the immigration debate find common ground.
“When I look at how long it takes to become a citizen in this country, it’s too long. I think we need to look at the timing. I think we need to look at the timing. I think we need to look at the process cap on some of these countries; like I mentioned with work visas, arbitrary caps are not the answer for people who want to come into our country the right way,” she said.
Hinson also mentioned how expensive the process is for immigrants.
“The cost is another thing that I’ve heard from a lot of people I’ve talked to who have become citizens and have gone through that process. It’s extremely expensive. So anything we can do from a policy perspective to help address some of those challenges. We’re a country that is built on immigration, and we need to do it the right way. But we need to also make sure that we’re being smart about how we welcome people into this country,” she said.
Hinson added in response to another question that her concern with open borders was that it is a national security issue.
The Iowa Torch followed-up and asked Hinson about President Biden reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and if she thought Congress should make it permanent.
“President Trump in the policy that he pushed forward that he thought it needed to be dealt with at the congressional level. From my perspective, Congress failed to deal with it. So I do think we need to do something for people who were brought to this country through no fault of their own. So, I do see that as something Congress needs to address. I look forward to working on that,” she told The Iowa Torch.
Listen to the press call below:
