Congresswoman Ashley Hinson hosted her weekly press call on Friday morning with Iowa media. Hinson opened by talking about her assignment to the Appropriations Committee, noting she’s the first representative from Iowa’s First District to have a seat on the committee.
“Iowans will have a seat at the table during our government spending process,” she said. “Iowans will have a direct say on which projects are funded by their tax dollars.”
Appropriations have been a priority for Hinson during the last four years in the Iowa House, she added. She will work to ensure issues important to rural America and Iowa are not overlooked.
In addition, Hinson said many Iowans have already expressed frustration with how the government is funded.
“I as a taxpayer am frustrated with how the process works too,” she said, noting that Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown a few weeks ago in the middle of a global pandemic. “I see it as an opportunity right now to try to fix the process and bring some badly needed transparency to the room.”
With Democrats controlling the House, Senate and White House for at least the next two years, Hinson said she’ll play an important role in the GOP minority of being a “check” on “that liberal agenda that I expect they’ll be pushing hard to implement.”
“I can promise taxpayers and Iowans that I’m going to be watching like a hawk,” she said. “I’m going to do everything that I can to protect their taxpayer dollars from being used irresponsibly.”
Finally, Hinson said she has cosponsored 22 pieces of legislation thus far, including a bill to establish a bipartisan national commission to investigate the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. She said it would be similar to the commission set up after 9-11.
“I think that this is the best way to get to the bottom of what happened to ensure it never happens again,” she said.
There is also a resolution she cosponsored to honor Capitol police and award one officer with the Congressional gold medal for “taking on a mob himself outside the Senate chamber.” Hinson said we’ll never know how bad it could’ve been without the Capitol Police’s heroism.
Another bill she has signed on to involves Big Tech. It would amend Section 230 to remove liability protections for Big Tech if they are not adhering to the spirit of the First Amendment when moderating content.
