President Trump today signed into law the Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act of 2018. Congressmen Loebsack and Gianforte’s bipartisan law reauthorizes a federal grant program that helps rural communities and the EMS providers that serve them. “Patients in rural areas have the same medical conditions requiring an emergency response as those in urban areas do, however many rural EMS agencies face unique challenges in delivering quality care,” said Loebsack. “I am pleased to have ... Read more

Today, the President Donald Trump signed into law the 2018 Farm Bill conference report, which contained the language from H.R. 4881, the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act. Congressmen Loebsack and Latta have been working in a bipartisan fashion to get the bill signed into law. Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 4881 on a standalone basis. “I am proud to work with Rep. Latta to get the language of this bipartisan bill signed into law. It is important that our farmers have access to the... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the final Farm Bill Conference report was made public. This legislation represents the final compromise between the House and Senate and is scheduled to be voted on later this week. “I am pleased that the House and Senate were finally able to put aside the partisan games and produce a Farm Bill that will provide Iowa’s farmers and rural communities with the certainty that they need to be able to plan for the upcoming planting... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement after additional reports brought to light that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has stated that they will not make retroactive GI Bill benefit payments to veterans who received less than they were owed, despite previous assurances that the affected veterans would be fully reimbursed. The Forever GI Bill provides educational and housing benefits to our veterans, which were earned through their service to the nation. Due to multiple... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack recently introduced a resolution to recognize the week of November 12-16, 2018 as National School Psychology Week. H.Res.1146 honors the work of school psychologists as an integral part of the dedicated team of professionals working in our schools to ensure every student has the opportunity to achieve academic success and reach their full potential. The resolution is supported by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). “Students learn best when they are... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement after reports surfaced that veterans have not been receiving their GI Bill benefits due to ongoing IT issues at the Veterans Administration (VA). “I'm very disappointed in the Veterans Administration’s failure to provide our veterans with the benefits they were promised. As a military parent, I am also deeply concerned about the reports of thousands of veterans who are facing homelessness because of the VA's inability to deliver housing ... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after it was announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would begin rulemaking to allow the year-round sale of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol (E15). Current law does not allow E15 to be sold in the summer months. Loebsack has long worked on a bipartisan basis to broaden fuel choices for consumers. Earlier this Congress, Loebsack joined with Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) to introduce HR 1311, the Consumer and Fuel R... Read more

Following a recent report from USA Today, Representatives Dave Loebsack and Cheri Bustos sought answers from the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure our veterans are receiving the highest possible quality of care. Specifically, the USA Today report showed that the VA had cancelled more than 250,000 radiology orders at VA hospitals across the country, including the Iowa City VA Hospital, since 2016. In light of this discovery, Loebsack and Bustos called on Secretary Rob... Read more

As the House gaveled out of session with two weeks remaining on its schedule, Congressman Dave Loebsack reiterated his call to Republican leaders to keep the House in session and working on the important issues Iowans are facing. Issues from the Farm Bill to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act remain to be dealt with. Today marks the 274th day of the year and the House has only been in session for a total of 94 days. Additionally, the House is only scheduled to be in session for a total... Read more

Congressman Dave Loebsack recently reintroduced legislation that would provide greater support to rural communities to ensure that students attending rural schools have access to the same resources as their urban counterparts. Currently, rural schools have fewer financial resources than non-rural schools, which has created challenges to teacher recruitment and retention, and resulted in a lack of quality expanded learning time programs for students. Loebsack’s Restructuring Underutilized Resour... Read more