Ashley Arenholz

Agriculture is at the heart of Iowa’s economy and rural communities. That’s why Ashley fights tirelessly for Iowa’s family farmers and agriculture industry.

In Washington, Ashley is a strong voice for Iowa agriculture and gives rural communities a seat at the table to ensure our priorities aren’t overlooked. A champion for Iowa biofuels and ethanol, Ashley has worked across the aisle to give Iowa producers the certainty they need by advocating for a strong renewable fuel standard.

Farmers in Northeast Iowa have experienced extreme hardship due to rampant inflation, the coronavirus pandemic, and the derecho. Ashley is working in Congress to ensure that Iowa farmers have the resources and tools they need to remain prosperous.

Ashley is also fighting back against big government overreach, like WOTUS regulations, on Iowa’s family farms. And as Speaker Pelosi tries to sneak Green New Deal provisions into spending packages, Ashley continues to be outspoken against radical initiatives that would put family farmers out of business. Ashley knows that farmers are the best stewards of their land. She will keep fighting to make sure Iowans’ voices are heard – not Washington bureaucrats.

Ashley understands that Communist China is the biggest threat to our country and is committed to holding them accountable for ripping off Iowa farmers, stealing American innovation, committing human rights abuses, and allowing COVID-19 to spread. Ashley believes it is time to take action against China and take concrete steps to end American reliance on our greatest adversary.

In Congress, Ashley is fighting to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., regain control of critical supply chains, and make sure China can’t unleash another pandemic on the world.

Ashley’s goal is simple—help American taxpayers keep more of their own money and make life more affordable for working families. Our national economic recovery is lagging, and we need growth now more than ever.

In Congress, Ashley continues to stand strong against wasteful spending and has proposed common-sense economic policies to combat inflation, stop rising prices, and address the pervasive workforce shortage. This builds on her pro-growth record in the Iowa House, where she voted for tax cuts and a balanced budget. Ashley supports making the middle-income tax cuts passed by Republicans in 2017 permanent for families and small busines    ses. Ashley is fighting back to ensure Democrats don’t raise taxes on hard-working families and destroy our economy in the process.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the Iowa economy. Ashley will continue spending time on Iowa Main Streets to hear from small-business owners and take action in Washington to solve the problems they are facing.

As the mother of two boys, Ashley has been a fierce advocate for school-aged kids in Iowa and across the country. Ashley has worked to ensure that schools nationwide followed Iowa’s lead to offer an in-person learning option for all students. Ashley stands with parents in protecting kids’ futures against pandemic learning loss.

Ashley believes parents should have a say in their kids’ education and that parents should know what is being taught at school, how schools’ are budgeting and spending money, and be made aware of any violent incidents on school grounds.

Additionally, Ashley believes the key to unlocking Iowa’s full economic potential lies in connecting students with educational opportunities that can turn into meaningful careers. With employers in Iowa struggling to find skilled workers, it is clear more Americans need postsecondary credentials to prosper in today’s competitive and technology-driven economy. That’s why Ashley is a leading advocate for vocational schools and training programs that will bridge the skills gap and expand access to career options for our children. She also introduced legislation to help make these skilling-up opportunities accessible to young workers.

When it comes to our energy sector, affordability, sustainability, and energy independence are critical to the future of Iowa and America. But unfortunately, President Biden and his administration cast aside the policies that created American energy independence and continue to sideline available domestic resources. These missteps, emboldened by Speaker Pelosi, have driven up costs for everyone and have once again made America reliant on our adversaries for oil.

Ashley is advocating for an all-of-the-above energy strategy that prioritizes domestic energy resources and production to bring down costs for working families and restore American energy independence.

Prioritizing Iowa biofuels is at the center of Ashley’s strategy to restore our energy independence. She has introduced numerous pieces of legislation to provide certainty to Iowa producers, maintain the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and allow E-15 to be sold year-round nationwide.

Ashley believes Iowa can remain a leader in renewable energy and biofuels without stifling our economic growth with unfair taxes and onerous regulatory burdens on Iowa producers. Ashley is working to increase American-made energy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, protect the environment, and bring down energy costs for Iowans.

Ashley wants to make it easier for parents to work and raise their families. As she travels throughout the district, she hears from families who are struggling to afford child care on top of other increasing bills–but they still need two parents to work in order to make ends meet. On top of this, child care centers throughout Iowa have waitlists over 100 people long–they don’t have the staff or resources to meet demand.

That’s why Ashley helped lead legislation to expand federal investment in child care, ease unnecessary burdens on the industry that drive up prices, and improve access to child care for those in rural communities.

She has spearheaded several initiatives to fix loopholes in paid family leave policy to ensure working parents can receive full benefits and help new mothers stay in the workforce if they choose to do so. Ashley will continue to propose real, actionable solutions to help parents work and raise their children.

For decades, politicians (on both sides of the aisle) have turned a blind eye to our mounting national debt. Ashley believes the national debt is a threat to our national security and knows that it is her kids and yours that will ultimately pay the price for Washington’s spending habits.

When Ashley first got to Congress, she sounded the alarm that President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s trillion-dollar spending spree would lead to inflation and eat into family budgets through increased costs of groceries, gas, and other everyday goods. Despite inflation continuing to soar and our national debt topping $30 trillion for the first time, President Biden and Speaker Pelosi continue to call for additional spending that will keep prices high for working families. As a Member of both the House Appropriations and Budget Committees, Ashley is committed to reining in spending and setting our nation on a sustainable fiscal path.

Ashley is working to make sure families have the power to make decisions about their health care—not bureaucrats in Washington. She opposes Medicare For All proposals that would put the government in charge of health care decisions instead of patients and their doctors.

Instead, Ashley has supported legislation that lowers prescription drug costs, incentivizes medical research, and puts a cap on the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare Part D. She is fighting to deliver patient-centered health care with the choice and control people want, the affordability they need, and the quality they deserve. This includes protecting coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

Affordable

Ashley also knows we need to focus on targeted fixes to improve the current system, such as getting rid of surprise medical billing and lowering the cost of co-payments, deductibles, and prescription drugs. Ashley is taking on Big Pharma to put an end to out-of-control prices of prescription drugs affecting all Iowans– especially seniors. She is working to increase competition in the marketplace and close loopholes that allow bad actors to take advantage of the system and line their pockets instead of helping those who are sick.

Accessible

Additionally, the federal government needs to improve access to health care, especially for families in rural areas, women, and those seeking mental health services. Ashley has worked across the aisle in Congress to help ensure Federally Qualified Health Centers (community health centers that provide care for rural and underserved Iowans) have adequate resources and are prioritized in health care decisions.

With several counties in IA-02 considered “maternal care deserts,” Ashley has spearheaded legislation to improve access to care for pregnant mothers and their infants. She will continue to champion rural health care access by working to improve and expand telehealth services and other patient-centered treatment options.

The Biden Administration reversed policies that kept our border secure, and as a result, illegal immigration is surging, and drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine are pouring across our border and into our communities. Ashley believes we need to return to the previous Administration’s policies that worked at our border: enforce Remain in Mexico, give border patrol agents the resources they need, and build the wall.

As a Member of the Appropriations Committee, Ashley serves on the Homeland Security Subcommittee, where she has held the Administration accountable for ignoring the border crisis and has advocated for increased resources for immigration enforcement. When the Biden Administration was caught using taxpayer dollars to fly illegal immigrants into the U.S. in the dead of night, Ashley immediately introduced legislation to defund these flights.

Ashley will continue to advocate for common-sense policies that secure our border while working to reform work visa programs that Iowa farmers and businesses rely upon.

The heroism of veterans is sacred to the identity of America, but so many of those who served and sacrificed for our country are not able to access the benefits and care they deserve. In many cases, our government has fallen short in our duty to care for America’s veterans properly.

Ashley worked across the aisle on the Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans’ Mental Health Act, legislation that ensures veterans in rural areas can access mental health services. This bipartisan bill was signed into law in June of 2021. She has also spearheaded efforts to ensure the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is operating at full capacity with in-person staff to ensure that veterans receive the benefits they have earned.

Ashley believes in reforming the VA by supporting legislation that increases access and quality, and protects medical benefits while cutting red tape. Ashley is focused on solutions that will help end veteran suicide through mental health rehabilitation for veterans who suffer from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction.

Ashley will always fight for those who fought for our freedoms. Ensuring veterans can access the care and support they deserve will continue to be central to her work in Washington.