One of the five Republican primary candidates for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, Bret Richards of Irwin, says this most recent round of flooding hitting southwest Iowa is a call to action for federal officials. Now is the time to rethink their policies on the use and control of the Missouri River, he says, and both parties should join forces to pass more aid for “flood-ravaged Midwesterners.” “Congress went through this situation just three months ago. Its members, Democrats and Republicans, ought to be able to figure out what needs to be done and get it done quickly,” Richards says. “More to the point, it’s everyday Iowans, Nebraskans, South Dakotans, Minnesotans and others—our neighbors—who had their lives and livelihoods severely disrupted. It’s time for the federal government to stand with and for them as they go through a second round of flooding in less than five months that most of us will never experience in a lifetime.” More than seven inches of rain fell in South Dakota and Minnesota in mid-September, which again sent rivers out of their banks, flooding roads and land for miles around. Two levees were reportedly breached between then and the end of the month, and now predictions of heavy rain for several more days this week are heightening flood threats and concerns. A flood relief bill was proposed in May, but three House GOP members objected and blocked its final passage according to Richards. “We certainly need to reverse the chronic deficits and begin to pay down the $22 trillion national debt that both parties have piled on us, our children and their children and grandchildren,” he says. “But our first priority must be to take care of our neighbors along the Missouri River who have been pushed to the brink by these floods.”
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