Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, from Red Oak, stopped in Atlantic, Friday afternoon. She first toured the Nishna Valley YMCA before paying a visit to the Ann W. Wickman Early Childhood Development Center, where she engaged the students in reading from Dr. Seuss’ “Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can you?”

Sen. Joni Ernst

Afterward, Ernst sat down with reporters, where she was asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, on Thursday boasted of new nuclear weapons that he said render NATO’s U.S.-led missile defenses useless. Ernst said “Russia is not our friend.” She said she had not been brief yet, on the specific capabilities…but, Russia is a concern and Russia will continue to be a concern for a very long time. They are what we consider a “Near peer” adversary, as well as China, Iran and North Korea. We like to keep our eyes on folks like that.”

Ernst was asked about whether or not Putin is just “Blowing smoke” when it comes to his stealth nuclear capabilities. She said “He likes to project power, and if he’s doing that just by “blowing smoke,” he will do that, but we do Russia has some nefarious intentions, especially when it comes to the United States, so we need to keep our eye on him and push back where we can push back.”

As for the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard), Ernst said “Renewable fuels/biofiels are extremely important. Not just to the State of Iowa, [but] from a producer standpoint, a lot of folks from across the Midwest those that grow corn and use ethanol they are very concerned. They want to uphold the [RFS] but, it’s important to the nation as well. We look at clean air standards..it’s better than burning just purely fossil fuels, and it does decrease our reliance on foreign energy sources. So we think it’s very important to maintain it, keep pushing for it.

Late last month, the Whitehouse said talks will continue on a dispute over the future of the RFS, which has pitted producers from corn producing states against oil producing states. The standard requires biofuels from corn and soybeans to be blended into gasoline and diesel. Midwest states have sought to maintain the standards while oil companies have pushed to ease the mandates.

Ernst also mentioned she was concerned about the trade tariff on aluminum and steel President Trump has proposed, saying “Maybe it wasn’t as thoroughly vetted as it should have been, because now we have the WTO (World Trade Organization), that’s saying they may have “Trade wars” now, between other nations and the United States. She says she’s concerned because it may have implications “In our ag trade space.”

Prior to being Atlantic, Ernst was in Panora where she visited a tele-com company, and learned how broadband infrastructure will be important for rural communities as well as in town.