Hello everyone,
I just finished up my first full week of my county visits. I went to 25 counties this week and will have 4 more visits on Monday before I return to Washington. These meetings have been very helpful to me and I will put your common sense ideas to good use.

Different issues came up in each town, but some things were on the minds of people in every town. Iraq, Iran, defense spending, Medicare cuts, farm programs, No Child Left Behind, budget, Social Security, homeland security all came up often.

On Monday I will be having Town Hall Meetings in Benton, Poweshiek and Tama counties. I will also visit the Belin-Blank Center Program at Williamsburg High School. The program is operated by the University of Iowa and offers advanced course work in mathematics and science for rural, high-ability middle school students in Iowa.

It was great visiting with you this week and for those of you I didn’t get to see, I’ll be in your county soon. In the meantime don’t forget to stay in touch.