David Young, candidate for Iowa’s 3^rd Congressional District was making a tour of southwest Iowa today (Friday).

David Young

One of his stops was in Atlantic, at the KJAN studios. Young, a seven-year former Chief of Staff to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, hopes voters will elect him to fill the seat being left vacant by 10-term Republican Congressman Tom Latham, who announced last month that he would retire at the end of his term.Young says he’s the best candidate for the job, because things in Washington are “ugly,” and he knows from experience what it takes to get things done.

He’s says working for Senator Grassley for seven-years has given him that experience.  Young says “When you’re working in an office with Iowans (in D.C.), you have to be careful not to get ‘Potomac Fever.’ We always kept each other accountable in the office. When you’re sitting in meetings with Iowans, you hear their heartaches, their problems, their issues, and you just want to work that much harder for them.” He says he learned from Sen. Grassley that’s it’s important to listen to Iowan, carry their values and principles. He said “You can be a man of faith as well, and not sell your soul out in Washington, D.C.”

Young said the “gridlock” associated with the debt ceiling issue is evidence members of Congress aren’t getting the job done, and fiscal discipline is one-way to eliminate the debt ceiling issue. He says he’s willing to work to get that done, and supports a Constitutional Amendment to that end. He also says President Obama needs to negotiate with Congress on the Debt Ceiling issue.

Young says he wants to make the government accountable to its citizens, that includes empowering the individual states to handle issues such as poverty, health care and education, through the use of block grants. He says if elected, he’ll stand up for Iowans’ “Common Sense” principles.