In 2021, Ernst Continued to Fight, Deliver for Iowans

Press Release

From successfully pushing for a new memorial on our National Mall honoring our Global War on Terrorism veterans, to working tenaciously to get answers about the origins of COVID-19 and to hold Washington accountable, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) continued to work relentlessly to deliver for Iowa veterans and servicemembers, farmers and biofuel producers, and small businesses, families, and communities in 2021.

"This past year under the Biden administration, our nation faced serious challenges: from the disastrous exit from Afghanistan that's emboldened our enemies, to a historic immigration crisis at our southern border--and from skyrocketing inflation and out-of-control government spending, to broken promises on biofuel," said Senator Joni Ernst.

"In 2021 I continued to relentlessly push back on the president's failed policies, to support our veterans and servicemembers, to deliver for Iowa's farmers and biofuel producers, to get answers about the origins of COVID-19, to hold Washington accountable, and to always hear from and put Iowa's small businesses, families, and communities first.

"As we start this New Year, there is so much more work to do, and you can be sure I'll continue fighting tooth and nail for our values and to deliver for Iowa," Ernst said.

Here's a look back at some of Senator Ernst's most critical work over 2021:

A Done Deal: Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall
After a years-long, hard-fought effort, Ernst, a veteran of the Global War on Terrorism and the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, spearheaded the campaign to create a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to honor the veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, our nation's longest war. Through her relentless efforts, Ernst garnered the support of lawmakers of both parties, influential public figures, and the six surviving secretaries of Defense--spanning Democratic and Republican administrations. The bill was signed into law as part of the annual defense bill.

Unearthing the Origins of COVID-19, Holding China, Bad Actors Accountable
Since the onset of COVID-19, Ernst has been pushing hard for answers about its origins and transparency around the dangerous experiments conducted at China's state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) that were funded with U.S. taxpayer money. Ernst successfully banned any additional U.S. funding from going to China's secretive lab. After revelations surfaced about U.S. tax dollars supporting dangerous experiments in China, Ernst introduced the FAUCI Act, which calls for a full accounting of how and where U.S. tax dollars are being spent, a complete ban on funding of "gain-of-function" research in Communist China, and restrictions on government officials who intentionally mislead Congress. In addition, Ernst led bipartisan legislation to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the pandemic's origins.

Making Washington Squeal!
As the Senate's leading foe of wasteful government spending, Ernst continued to make one of her top priorities cutting Washington's egregious spending with her Squeal Award. Ernst had provisions of her Cost Openness and Spending Transparency (COST) Act signed into law as part of the annual defense bill to ensure the Pentagon discloses the costs of its research projects. And she successfully got signed into law parts of her Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act, forcing accountability for projects that are more than $1 billion over budget or five years behind schedule. As Democrats continued to push their reckless tax-and-spending spree, Ernst called them out for trying to include an earmark costing more than $100 million that would extend a subway near House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district--a subway system that is expected to lose as much as $200 million a year over the next decade. Ernst authored legislation going after such wasteful projects. Ernst also went after bureaucrats who were ignoring federal cost transparency requirements, called for a full accounting of the billions of dollars of military equipment the Biden administration left behind in Afghanistan, and pushed for legislation--the Zombie Programs Survival Guide Act--to identify and help repeal outdated and unnecessary programs that continue to linger on long past their expiration dates.

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