Sen. Joni Ernst echoed many of the same ideas she put forth in the GOP rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address when she returned to the same state that sent her to Washington for the Iowa Freedom Summit Saturday.
She railed against the president’s reliance on executive action to pursue his agenda, repeating common Republican criticisms against the White House’s immigration orders.
“He is taking on the jobs that I was sent to Washington, D.C., to do, what [Sen.] Chuck Grassley does, what Congressman [Steven] King does,” Ernst said of Obama.
The first female combat veteran to be elected to the Senate, Ernst pushed for a comprehensive national defense plan that took a firmer stance against terrorism. Perceived failures in Obama’s anti-terror strategy was a favorite talking point of Republicans at the Des Moines event.
Ernst and her fellow speakers were also united in their vociferous support for pro-life principles. The event fell days after a late-term abortion ban failed to clear the Republican-controlled House and thousands of protesters descended on Washington for the annual pro-life procession March for Life.
“We as a society will be judged by how we take care of our most vulnerable within our population,” Ernst said, touting the same pro-life principles that were present in the majority of the day’s speeches. “We need to make sure that everyone understands that we are compassionate and we will defend this innocent life.”
Like every Republican who took the stage Saturday, Ernst expressed optimism about her party’s prospects for the upcoming presidential election.
“We have the momentum,” she said, “and we need to use it as we’re going forward into 2016.”
