Q: Are recent cyberattacks on JBS and Colonial Pipeline the tip of the iceberg?

A: Ransomware cyberattacks targeting critical U.S. infrastructure are cropping up with increasing frequency, delivering wake-up calls to cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the government and U.S. economy. The attacks on digital information systems put our national security at risk, sweeping food, energy and financial systems into jeopardy. In recent years, data breaches have vacuumed up volumes of personal and financial information on American consumers. Last December, the U.S. Energy Department, which manages the U.S. nuclear arsenal, announced it had been the target of a highly sophisticated data breach…

Q: What’s your take on President Biden’s first budget?

A: The president is borrowing a page from the Obama administration to “never let a serious crisis go to waste.” It’s as clear as the day is long what the Biden administration set out to do since day one of his presidency: Use the pandemic to shift the political landscape, reshape the economy and expand the social safety net by squeezing trillions of dollars from the American taxpayer for generations to come. Biden’s bloated budget overtaxes, overspends and overpromises. It’s a massive government overreach that would saddle future generations with deficit…

Q: Why did you resurrect your bipartisan cattle price transparency bill?

A: When independent cattle farmers are losing money on each head of cattle while packers are profiting $1,200 per head, they have every reason to be fed up with anticompetitive practices in the marketplace. At my meeting in Jones County in May, I heard from 150 local cattle feeders who shared how their livelihoods are effectively at the mercy of the big four meatpackers who control more than 80 percent of the market. These beef conglomerates fill 80 percent of their daily slaughter with pre-contracted sales, including formula and…

Q: How are you working to raise awareness for mental health wellness?

A: From my leadership assignments in the U.S. Senate, I’ve worked to expand access to behavioral health services for individuals and families coping with pressures from the opioid epidemic, natural disasters and COVID-19. From farmers, police officers and veterans managing the stress of their vocations, to children and teenagers, foster youth, juvenile offenders and families managing substance abuse disorders and addiction, I’m leading efforts to improve coordination of care among health care providers, end the stigma often attached to mental health diseases and close the gap for mental…

Q: How has the pandemic impacted foster care?

A: For nearly 15 months, the pandemic uprooted just about everything society took for granted before COVID-19 swept into communities across the country. The highly transmissible infectious disease created unprecedented changes and challenges to life as we know it, from going to work, attending school, filling prescriptions, buying groceries and seeing a health care provider. Closing classrooms and shutting down entire sectors of the economy created financial hardship and untold consequences of social isolation, affecting mental health, and exacerbating addiction and domestic abuse. For children who need society’s social safety net to…

Q: What’s happening with your efforts to reduce prescription drug prices?

A: I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is our drug pricing regime is broken. A web of secrecy shrouds flaws in the system that rewards certain stakeholders at the expense of independent pharmacy operators, employers, patients and taxpayers. Mergers among insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers and others raise concerns about anti-competitive practices that call into question if consolidation helps patients or harms their pocketbooks. The good news is I’m not giving up to fix what’s not working. The pricing supply chain needs a big dose…

Q: Why is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebrated in May?

A: In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the first joint congressional resolution to celebrate the cultural, social and economic contributions of Asian Pacific Americans from May 4–11. The dates were chosen to mark two important anniversaries in Asian American history. On May 7, 1843, the first immigrants from Japan arrived in the United States and on May 10, 1869, the transcontinental railroad was finished. Major work on the railroad was completed by newcomers from China. President George H.W. Bush extended the observance for the entire month of…

Q: What’s your message to Iowans during National Donate Life month?

A: Thanks to modern medicine and the selfless generosity of fellow Americans, organ donation and transplantation have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of beloved family members, friends and neighbors in recent decades. The miracles of modern medicine have given grandparents, moms, dads, siblings and cousins precious more time to make memories and make a difference during their time together on God’s green earth.

Even during the unprecedented uncertainty of a pandemic, loved ones and total strangers selflessly stepped up with the most generous gift they could give…