Meet the candidates running for Iowa's 4th Congressional District

Three candidates are competing to represent Iowa's 4th Congressional District, which includes Council Bluffs, Sioux City and Ames in the northwestern quadrant of the state.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra is seeking a third term. Entrepreneur Kevin Virgil also is running in the Republican primary, and the winner will face Democrat Ryan Melton in the general election.

To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal and Des Moines area legislative candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

The primary election is scheduled for June 4 ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

Who is Randy Feenstra (incumbent)?

Age: 55

Party: Republican

Current town of residence: Hull

Education: I received my bachelor’s degree from Dordt University and went on to receive my MPA from Iowa State University. I also have my doctorate degree in health care administration.

Occupation: I have worked in both the private and public sectors including head of sales at Foreign Candy Co., Hull city administrator, Iowa State Bank insurance manager, and business and economics professor at Dordt University. I am currently serving as Iowa's Fourth District Congressman.

Political experience and civic activities: I served six years as the city administrator of Hull, Iowa. I also served as Sioux County treasurer and then Iowa state senator for 12 years. I am now in my second term in Congress.

Who is Kevin Virgil?

Age: 51

Party: Republican

Current town of residence: Sutherland

Education: Bachelor of Science, United States Military Academy (1995); Emory University (2002)

Occupation: Entrepreneur/business owner

Political experience and civic activities: None

Who is Ryan Melton?

Age: 39

Party: Democrat

Current town of residence: Nevada

Education: Bachelor's degree in history and political science from Iowa State University, M.A. in U.S. history from the University of Kansas

Occupation: Supervisor of personal lines insurance at Nationwide

Political experience and civic activities: Precinct chair for Bernie Sanders in 2016; treasurer for Josh Opperman, candidate for Story County Board of Supervisors in 2018; Democratic candidate for U.S. House in IA-04 in 2022.

Election issues: IVF could be a driving issue in Iowa congressional races. Where do the candidates stand?

What would be your top issue should you be elected?

Feenstra: We must secure the border. Known terrorists, drug traffickers, and millions of illegal immigrants have crossed our border unvetted. It’s dangerous and unacceptable. We need to know who is entering our country and we need to keep criminals out of our communities. My immigration policy is straightforward. We need to finish the border wall, fully fund our border patrol agents, restore “Remain in Mexico,” and end radical “catch-and-release” policies. We are a nation of laws and we need to enforce them to keep our families safe and stop deadly fentanyl from flooding our communities.

Virgil: 50 percent reduction in the federal government's budget and employee headcount

Melton: To push back on the disproportionate corporate power that is polluting our water, stealing our land, extracting our district's wealth, hollowing out our communities, and buying our politicians.

What is the most important domestic policy you would champion in Congress?

Feenstra: On his first day in office, President Biden signed a slew of executive orders that destroyed our energy independence and increased our reliance on foreign oil. As a result, we’ve seen gas prices rise and our adversaries use energy as an exploitative tool. We need to use homegrown American energy — including Iowa ethanol and biodiesel — to lower fuel prices for families, bolster our energy security, and end our reliance on foreign countries for energy. By cutting red tape and supporting our energy industry, we can combat inflation and reduce energy costs nationwide.

Virgil: Reducing the size of the federal administrative state

Melton: We need to alleviate the financial stress of our citizenry. 60% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck while the 1% have hoarded our wealth. This wealth disparity is driving hunger, crimes of desperation, higher health care costs, limiting our potential as a country, and is turning people against each other. The fact our federal minimum wage is stuck at $7.25 is a travesty, and the fact there's been a concerted attack on collective bargaining has amplified this pain. I would be in support of a minimum wage increase, the Pro Act to protect workers rights/unions, Medicare for All, and making the millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.

What is a specific piece of bipartisan legislation you would push for in Congress?

Feenstra: A bipartisan priority must be our nearly $35 trillion national debt, and we can only begin to address this crisis by balancing our federal budget and cutting unnecessary spending. That’s why I recently introduced legislation to require the president of the United States to submit a balanced budget to Congress. We are currently adding $1 trillion to our national debt about every 100 days. It’s unsustainable and we need to root out waste in our budgeting process. It’s the responsibility of the president and Congress to operate in reality and deliver a balanced budget to the American people.

Virgil: I would push to support the PRIME Act, which will allow food producers to sell directly to the consumer within the state where food is produced without USDA interference.

Melton: Republicans and Democrats alike in our district would be in support of modifying the 45Q federal tax credit to ensure that carbon capture pipeliners can't profit from the tax credit. It's a well-intended credit, as human-caused climate change is an existential threat, but clearly it needs modifying as corporations looking to profit from it without care for the intention of the tax credit are close to doing so via these pipelines, which are not an effective climate change solution. Meanwhile, the pipelines would drive eminent domain abuse, threaten our water quality/availability and public health, and would be a waste of taxpayer money.

What specific steps, if any, should Congress take to secure the border and improve immigration policy?

Feenstra: President Biden has completely failed to do his job and secure the border. We must build the wall, end “catch and release” policies, and reinstate “Remain in Mexico.” I'm proud to have voted for legislation to do just that and fully fund our border patrol in the process. I also introduced the Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act, which would seize money from the drug cartels to help pay for the construction of the border wall and fund fentanyl treatment and recovery services for our kids and our families. The American people deserve secure borders and safe communities.

Virgil: (a) Hard closure of the southern border; (b) fund and build the border wall; (c) withdrawal of all federal funding and grants for NGOs and other organizations that aid and abet in the trafficking of illegal aliens; (d) end the practice of 'citizenship by birthright'; (e) harsh financial penalties for businesses that knowingly employ illegal aliens

Melton: We need more asylum/immigration judges/employees to work the backlog. We need to create a robust immigrant labor program to align migration flows with labor needs. In Iowa, we've seen a rolling back of child labor law because we can't find enough workers. We shouldn't do that to our kids. We need more coordination between federal and state to ensure that every community that takes in immigrants is prepared to do so. We need to work with nations people are leaving from and assist to alleviate those root causes driving them away where we can. We have reams of data that show both legal and undocumented immigrants commit crime at much lower rates than native born citizens.

After the fall of Roe v. Wade, America is seeing a wide variety of abortion laws across states. Should Congress create a federal policy outlining abortion restrictions that are uniform across the country? If so, what should that look like?

Feenstra: As a father of four and a Christian, I believe that we were all born to further God’s kingdom and that unborn life deserves to be protected. It is a fundamental component of my faith. I strongly oppose taxpayer-funded abortions and have consistently voted against every attempt at the federal level to legalize abortion until the moment of birth. I believe that our laws must reflect our highest moral values and defending innocent life is absolutely critical in that regard.

Virgil: No. Per the 10th Amendment, legislation on abortion should be delegated to the states.

Melton: Yes, I'm in support of federally codifying the reproductive rights protections embodied by Roe.

Should Congress take steps to protect Americans’ access to in-vitro fertilization?

Feenstra: As a father of four and a Christian, I believe that we must do everything that we can to encourage people to have families and then advance policies that help our families and children thrive. I support in-vitro fertilization because this procedure has given the gift of life to so many children and blessed families with new babies. God has blessed me with a great family and I believe that that blessing should be shared with every couple who wants to start a family.

Virgil: My daughter was born thanks to IVF and I will always support its use. I do not believe that access to IVF is at risk and therefore do not support the drafting of unnecessary legislation.

Melton: Absolutely.

Iowans are struggling with rising costs and inflation. What can Congress do to fix it?

Feenstra: Trillions of dollars in wasteful spending — approved by President Biden — fueled the worst inflation crisis in over 40 years. When these spending packages came to the House floor for a vote, I voted no on every single one. We need to cut wasteful government spending and get our fiscal house in order. I’ve introduced legislation to require the president to submit a balanced budget to Congress — not a ridiculous spending wish list. As a strong fiscal conservative, I’ll continue to oppose trillion-dollar spending packages and other initiatives that promote government waste.

Virgil: (a) Cut the federal government budget by 50&, with a corresponding decrease in the federal income tax; (b) Allow Americans, and especially younger Americans, to 'opt out' of Social Security payments and benefits by allowing them to contribute to their own retirement — thereby cutting costs to our largest federal expense line item; (c) Pass legislation that prohibits Big Pharma from selling drugs at exponentially higher rates than what they sell them for in other countries; (d) Offer Americans an option to employer-sponsored health plans by expanding the use of health savings accounts so that they only pay for the coverage that they and their families need.

Melton: First, much of the inflation we saw initially was driven by the supply chain disruptions caused by Covid. The pandemic revealed our supply chains were rather fickle due to consolidation and reliance on foreign production. So, we need more competition in our markets and more domestic production. Second, corporations then took advantage of that initial inflationary bump and raised prices even more, earning record profits on the backs of the rest of us. So, I'd be in favor of a windfall tax to prevent such "greedflation." We also need to accelerate our ability to rely on non-fossil fuel energy so we are less dependent on foreign actors, so let's ramp up wind and solar.

What policies would you advocate to include in the next Farm Bill?

Feenstra: Representing the second-largest agriculture-producing district in the country and serving on the House Agriculture Committee, I am very involved in writing the Farm Bill. Among many priorities, I’m working to strengthen crop insurance, open new export markets for our producers, expand biofuels production, and ban China from buying our farmland. I’m also working to overturn California’s costly Prop 12 mandates on Iowa’s hog farmers and rescind President Biden’s burdensome WOTUS regulations on our farmers. I will continue to advocate for policies that help our farmers and their families succeed and thrive.

Virgil: (a) I will not support any policies that do not prioritize the interests of Americans above all others; (b) Require verification of working status, or stated reason for need, for Americans to qualify for SNAP assistance. I will support extension of SNAP benefits to those Americans that truly need it but will not support doing so without verification of that need.

Melton: Incentivization of water pollution mitigation measures in ag, incentivization of attracting first-time farmers back to the land to ensure the big aging out of our farmers doesn't lead to more consolidation of ownership of our land and resources in the hands of the few, promotion of increased diversity of what we grow in this state, funding to determine the root causes of Iowa's cancer crisis, measures to increase competition on the input and output sides so our farmers aren't as squeezed in the middle, promotion of right to repair, emphasize domestic control of our food supply, protect food assistance benefits for those in need.

What should be Congress' priority when addressing the federal budget — cutting spending or directing money toward programs and services?

Feenstra: According to recent reports, the federal government is borrowing approximately $100,000 every single second. It’s an unfathomable financial crisis that requires serious solutions. First, we have to stop spending money that we don’t have, borrowing money that we can’t afford, and printing money out of thin air. This is the perfect recipe for high inflation and skyrocketing interest rates. It’s my belief that we need to take an honest look at our budget and cut the waste that exists in government. Securing a balanced budget is the only way that we can begin to meaningfully reduce our national debt.

Virgil: I will never support legislation that supports an increase in the federal budget, and will only vote for budget cuts. When I ran my business I had to focus on managing expenses just as much as I did on generating sales. However in government, those in power only ever talk about raising tax revenue and never consider cutting expenses. This practice urgently needs to stop as it is adding $1 trillion of debt to our national deficit every 100 days. We can cut numerous government programs while sustaining — and in many cases improving — the services offered to Americans.

Melton: The millionaires and billionaires need to start paying their fair share of taxes so we can start funding our social and literal infrastructure sufficiently. The wealth gap is as bad as it has ever been in our country. There's been a robbery of most taxpayers via regressive tax policy, and the loot has been given to the millionaires and billionaires. We should not, in the nation of plenty, have tens of millions in poverty, hundreds of thousands facing bankruptcy for medical debt, bridges and roads that are falling apart, water lines made of lead threatening our public health, and generations of college graduates who can't afford homes because of crippling loan debt. We can do better.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meet the candidates running for Iowa's 4th Congressional District