Cindy Axne: I delivered on my promises to Iowans

Whenever I need to take a moment to breathe and reflect, I often find myself on a walk through the woods near my home.

The weeks following the 2016 presidential election were no different, and I went on one of those walks. I was devastated, thinking about the future of our state and our country, the one that my young boys would be inheriting, and the ongoing threat to our democracy.

I had only set out on a journey of what I thought would be a mile or two. Ten miles later, I came to a conclusion: It was time to get up from the sidelines and do something about it.

With the help of the Polk County Democrats and the unwavering support of my friends and family, I threw my hat into the ring, took on my congressman, who was not working for families like yours and mine — and I won.

When I stepped onto the House floor for the first time as your congresswoman, I looked up. I saw hundreds of names of fellow representatives on the board above, with dozens coming from states like California, Florida, and Texas. Iowa only had four names, mine included.

At that moment, I thought, “Well, I’m going to have to be the voice of 10 representatives to get things done for Iowa.”

That has been my promise to you ever since, and I’ve delivered on that promise.

I voted to send the bipartisan infrastructure law to President Joe Biden’s desk, sending $5 billion to Iowa to upgrade our aging roads, bridges, and highways and to secure more than $120 million in funding for the Des Moines International Airport. I brought the manufacturing of computer chips – which power everything from your cars to your refrigerators to your phones – back home to America. Most recently, I voted to invest in clean energy to combat climate change, and to bring down the crushing costs of prescription drugs for Iowans so no one has to choose between the care they need and making ends meet.

And, as a girl who spent her summers on her grandparent's farm just outside Milo, I never stopped fighting to make sure that rural Iowans got the investments they deserve.

I empowered Iowa’s local producers and farmers by taking on the big four meatpacking monopoly head-on. My Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act, named after an Iowan who took his own life after being denied access to a bed at a mental health facility, was signed into law, expanding access to care for rural veterans. I worked to create more affordable housing options for rural Iowans. I joined the Rural Broadband Task Force to help ensure every Iowan could access high-speed broadband no matter where they live, and have brought more than $300 million to Iowa to deliver that.

I never backed down from a challenge, always reached across the aisle on the issues that mattered most, and had sharp elbows to make progress for Iowans.

While my time in Congress is coming to a close, I want to reiterate that the threat to our democracy, the very same one that inspired me to run for Congress six years ago, is still ongoing — and it’s more apparent than ever.

Right now, the Republican Party is a well-oiled disinformation machine fueled by dark money groups and special interests. We saw this right here in Iowa’s 3rd District, where over $10 million was spent by Washington Republicans to defeat me using outright lies, baseless smears, and scare tactics — even flooding the airwaves with photos of my children to attack me.

They’re making it harder for people to vote and denying the results of free and fair elections, which led to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6. They’re rolling back women’s rights even further after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with our governor pushing to reinstate the six-week fetal heartbeat abortion ban. They’re ready to gut Social Security and Medicare, which older Iowans have earned, and so much more.

But, despite all of this, I have hope.

I have hope because of the activists and advocates I’ve met over the past six years who are committed to making our communities stronger.

I have hope because of our young people, who turned out by the millions to reject the far-right, extremist agenda in the midterm elections, making the “red wave” next to nonexistent.

This fight for a better tomorrow for our children and their children must continue. There is simply too much at stake for our families, our state, and our country to give up now.

Continue to have those hard conversations with your friends and your neighbors about the issues impacting our communities. Continue casting your ballots, defending our democracy, and holding elected officials accountable. Continue to reject the far-right extremism that threatens our way of life.

And I’ll be fighting right there with you.

Cindy Axne has represented Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District for two terms.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Cindy Axne guest column: I delivered on my promises to Iowans