Iowa Third District Democrat Representative Congresswoman Cindy Axne made the rounds in southwest Iowa, Tuesday. One of her stops was in Atlantic, where she spoke with KJAN News with respect to a number of topics. Axne says Iowans are still “still hurting a lot,” from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. She said “Unfortunately we’re starting to run into some difficult times in regard to people not having what they need to put food on the table. Certainly State and local municipalities are losing a lot of revenue that is going to be needed to make sure that we can keep our teachers and our police officers employed, and all of those things that we rely on.”

She said “We’re all ready to have this COVID over, we all know that, but I certainly think people are buckling down trying to stay safe and in the mean time really knowing that if we don’t at least get one other good package through to assist with COVID, that we’re gonna be in a bad place this Fall.” She said with regard to the economic relief package, she’s “working hard to make that happen.”

Axne said with regard to a mandatory face mask policy in Iowa, “I think we should,” based on the scientific data available. “Data shows that we can reduce the transmission [of the virus]. President Trumps Administration has advised that Iowa does this. The [CDC] has advised that Iowa go to a mask mandate, so I’m gonna listen to the folks who do this for a living, who read the data, and who say that ‘if we put masks on, we can lower the spread.” She a national mask mandate should also be in-place. Axne says if a mandate and additional procedures had been in-place early on, “We could probably be back to a much more normal lifestyle by now, instead of seeing bars closed again, businesses get hurt again, because we didn’t want to ‘buckle down.”

When asked if she supports House Speak Nancy Pelosi’s bargaining position with the White House, with regard to a second pandemic relief package, Axne said she’s in favor of the House and Senate coming together on a final COVID bill. The problem, she says, is “We have people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats who have put fat into the bill. We have people who won’t come off a negotiation because of some pet project that they’ve gotten there. Instead of focusing on the big issues that we’re facing right now.

“People who need some money in their pockets because they’re unemployed, folks who are going to be kicked-out of their rental housing because they can’t afford it any longer, businesses that won’t be able to start-up again and provide money for their family, PPE for our teachers and our schools to make sure they can educate our kids…these are the things we should be caring about…not laptops for congressional workers that the Democrats have in the bill, and not a new FBI building the Republicans have in the bill. Let’s come to the table with the clean stuff, and let’s get this thing done.”

Pelosi has said she and the Democrats could compromise on a $2.2-Trillion limit, while the White House indicated its support for going up to $1.3-Trillion. Axne says she expects to see a package closer to the $2.2-Trillion by the time all is said and done.

And, with regard to the upcoming elections, Axne says she thinks the race between Republican Incumbent Senator Joni Ernst and her Democrat challenger Teresa Greenfield, will be “Really tough. I think that it was Joni’s to have, but unfortunately I think she’s slippin’ a little bit. She needs to be doing some stuff for Iowans, like stepping up and saying ‘I want ethanol literally listed as a recipient for support,” because our ethanol industry is dying by the wayside. Greenfield, she said, is “Getting a lot of traction, she understands the district.” She expects it to be a “toss-up.”

As for her own race against Republican David Young, Axne says her record shows she’s stood-up for Iowa and she’s hoping to continue working for Iowans and being the voice for their interests.