Ashley Hinson interview

The Daily Iowan: What are the issues that you’re working on right now that are top of mind?

Ashley Hinson: I just did another interview on it, but one I think is really relevant to college campuses right now. I have basically a pregnant students’ rights bill. We want to make sure that when people find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy on a college campus are presented with all their options, including the flexibility options to choose to have a baby, to choose life. And that means things like flexibility for class schedule, excused absences, those kinds of things. And so that’s basically what we’re advocating for is a policy that would require colleges to inform students about all of their options in that regard. And I see it as an empowerment bill. We had a university president in Cedar Rapids who actually told me her story. She had a baby in college and it didn’t derail her professional career at all. She ended up becoming a university president and it was very inspiring to me to hear that, and so I wanted to make sure that all women have that option.

The DI: And then one thing that your name was attached to the other Iowa delegation have talked about is a bill to modernize the National Weather Service communication system. What inspired this legislation and what do you hope it accomplishes?

Ashley Hinson: So, my past career I was a news anchor, reporter, sat next to meteorologist every day, heard 20 weather casts every day, but also heard about how important utilizing the tools offered by the National Weather Service really are in severe weather situations. So, you’re talking about the chat, you’re talking about the alerts that come out of the regional offices.

And it became abundantly clear especially after the severe weather that we experienced back in early March where several Iowans lost their lives, that there is a need to take a deeper look at this. So, I’m really excited to be working across the aisle on this issue. Congresswoman Axne and I actually sent a letter to the National Weather Service and NOAA asking for answers. We wanted to know what went wrong. A lot of the problems were in the Dallas office, but in general, the feedback I got from emergency management folks, from the meteorologists that obviously utilize the chats, that we did need to do something to modernize. So that’s where that conversation started. And I think, you know, Iowans are obviously very attuned to what’s happening with severe weather, and we want to make sure that we can get those alerts out because they do save lives.

The DI: Something that’s come up in Iowa at the state level, is concerns raised mostly by Republicans, but it’s been the bill that passed in Iowa that was fairly bipartisan about free speech on college campuses and protecting those rights. Do you hear those concerns that our Iowa representatives and senators do, and should the federal government have a role in that? How should the federal government approach that?

Hinson: I think first and foremost comes down to protecting the First Amendment. I’m a former journalist. I care about people being able to express how they feel on any issue. And we don’t want to see speech suppressed, especially on college campuses where they are designed to be a beacon of that conversation and a beacon of thought if you can have dialogue much like we have here in the halls of Congress. I want to make sure that that is preserved for all students and all viewpoints. And so that was something actually when I was in the state Legislature, we had a bill come forward. I think in response to actually something that happened at the University of Iowa with a group that wasn’t allowed to meet and I was glad the courts obviously decided in that favor, but we as legislators needed to act as well. So not sure on the federal scale, what our role would be in terms of similar legislation, but I definitely am concerned about making sure that free speech is protected, and also making sure that viewpoints are not censored. So, I think that brings in kind of your big tech conversation, right? We want to make sure that our big tech companies are following the spirit of the First Amendment as well.

The DI: Senator Ernst has been an advocate for sending jets and more lethal aid to Ukraine. Would you agree with the Senator that the US needs to send more aid to Ukraine?

Ashley Hinson: We had the opportunity to hear directly from President Zelenskyy a few weeks ago. I’m not sure there was a dry eye in that room. Seeing the horrific images coming out of Ukraine, the women and children — women and men — families and lives that have been destroyed and we absolutely need to be doing whatever we can to supply the Ukrainian people with the tools to fight. You see, obviously I’m sending a pretty clear signal of our support for Ukraine. And so I applaud Senator Ernst for her work on this issue. And we have obviously approved, in the most recent package that we passed, some additional funding to send as well. So it’s not only the military aid, we need to give them the tools to fight, they want to fight. And if you look at this effort that they’ve been able to put forth, if it was sheer willpower, they would have won already, right? I mean, these are strong people and they’re fighting hard. So lethal aid but also the humanitarian side. I’ve met with two families so far who have been working to adopt children from Ukraine. They had hosted them in their homes, actually a group of siblings that they were eventually hoping to adopt. Miraculous story, they were able to track them through the process and find they had gotten to safety. They’d gotten to Austria. But there’s still a long road ahead and very complicated process with visas and immigration law as it is right now. So we’re working through a lot of that side too. Because it is absolutely critical that we welcome people to Iowa who are refugees from the crisis in Ukraine.

The DI: And President Biden said on Monday that he believes that Putin should be investigated and charged for war crimes for his actions in Ukraine. Would you agree with President Biden on that?

Hinson: Well, President Putin clearly invaded a sovereign country and the images that we’re seeing out of Ukraine are horrific. And I think it does bear asking the question. Are these war crimes? And if so, he does need to be held accountable. I would argue that I think the world is holding President Putin accountable and we are doing everything we can. I think a lot of that should have been done sooner as a deterrent rather than a reactive approach. But I think we need to make sure we’re holding him to account for his actions because nobody should ever be allowed in this vein to invade a sovereign country and kill its people — freedom loving people.

The DI: And the war and other things has contributed to rising gas costs here at home. What do you think Congress should do to help people suffering with rising fuel prices?

Hinson: Well, this is obviously augmented and already rising gas price crisis that we’ve had over the last year, right? I drive a minivan, I track my groceries by the ounce, and I track my gas by the gallon, right? I know what I’m paying. And I think if there’s one thing that we can do, and we’ve been calling for this for quite some time, but Iowa is a biofuels state. And so, one thing that I call for to immediately provide that relief at the pump is an RVP waiver, Reid vapor pressure. It’s a tool that basically allows for higher blends of ethanol to be sold at the pump. It’s been used after hurricanes. It was used after the Colonial Pipeline hack. So, we have the tools to do it. We can implement it right away. And that’s where I think there’s a ready option to provide some immediate relief at the pump. The other thing, it’s an incredibly complicated process, but when you look at oil leasing and drilling, every roadblock possible has been putting in the way, and we need to get those roadblocks out of the way so we can focus on domestic energy production. So, it’s a combination of all of the above, right. Let’s look at biofuels, let’s look at making sure we can produce domestically. And let’s get those barriers out of the way that we are seeing come out of this administration.

The DI: I was wondering with the midterms coming up, how do you feel about the chances of Republicans taking back the House and Senate and in particularly in I was first, second and third congressional districts on Kansas Iowa candidates there yourself because they are pretty, pretty close?

Hinson: Well, I can’t get into campaign stuff too much because we’re in my official office. But what I can tell you is that I think Americans are ready for a change in leadership in Congress because they see the policies coming out of Nancy Pelosi’s supposed leadership here and unfortunately, they’re not seeing solutions to all the real crises that they’re facing. I serve on the Homeland Security appropriations committee. We’re talking a lot about what’s happening at the southern border. And instead of actually dealing with the crisis, they’re eliminating a policy that helps Customs and Border Protection agents actually do their job, right? So, they shouldn’t be doubling down on things that are causing more harm to our country. Iowans want solutions. Iowans need solutions, and I think the solution in this case is a change in leadership here in Washington, D.C., and I’m going to continue to tell the stories that I’ve been hearing on the ground back home, which are the stories about inflation. The story is about the mom who’s worried about filling up her minivan and putting enough food in her grocery cart because all those costs are up. We have people sending in copies of their utility bills to our office because those are also on the rise. So, you’ve got seniors who say, “Okay, well, I’ve got to pay this bill, but I’ve also got to afford all of these other things.” And then another story that I’ve shared, you know, in conjunction with the State of the Union, we had a business owner contact us and say, “Hey, we’ve only gotten half of our inventory in.” If you only got half your inventory then that means your profits are cut, and at a time when you’re a Main Street shop and you’re selling candles and knickknacks, what’s the first thing people cut from their budget when they have expendable income? It’s supporting business like that. So those are my main concerns and those are the stories that I continue to talk about the real world impact on policy.

The DI: The Democratic National Committee is looking to move toward taking away Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status on the Democratic side for the caucuses. So how do you think this reflects the political environment in Iowa and how could that change the political nature of Iowa.

Hinson: Well, I think first and foremost, we should be fighting to have that first-in-the-nation status. Iowans know how to vet presidential candidates, and I’ve always enjoyed, first as a journalist covering the caucuses, but participating as well. It’s such a unique process and Iowans ask candidates really tough questions. I know because I’ve been on the receiving end of them too. So, I think we know how to pick a president in Iowa. We know how to make sure candidates are on the record on issues, and then we also know how to hold them accountable if they win, and they don’t follow through on those, right? Biofuels is a great example. President Biden came to Iowa and during caucuses, he said we’re going to be ready for a new era of biofuels. And I asked his budget director last week, why is it nowhere in your budget, right? So, it provides us with a great accountability tool long term, but also just a great vetting tool. I think our party leadership on both sides in Iowa, the Democrats and the Republicans are united on trying to maintain that first-in-the-nation status. And while we had some unfortunate situations happen on the Democrat side in 2020, I think those have been resolved. We’re ready to run an efficient caucus on both sides and continue that first-in-the-nation status.