How can you say what you're doing is in any way effective, and are you the least bit concerned that people are coming in here illegally from a hundred different countries?

Your Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection professionals will tell you that they could secure the border if you would enforce the tools and the laws that you have. You're not doing it.

I am confident that--perhaps I shouldn't be--that at least some colleagues would not want us to return all Cubans that we encounter at the border because of their claims of fear of persecution by reason of the authoritarian regime there.

Do you have preparations in your budget if Public Health Order 42 is lifted and how many more illegal encounters do you anticipate having?

The statistics would say otherwise. 1.7 million illegal encounters last year, more than one million so far this year.

Okay. Well, we are concerned it is going to take you above that range, and so again we want to make sure that that--you know, that those increases do keep it in that range, and we are not getting above it.

We appreciate the working relationship.

And once it is out, we would like you to have somebody get out there with us, and talk to the livestock groups, or in this case the commodity groups, the farm groups, so we can explain it, if that would--if that is something that you would…

Livestock Indemnity Program, again, we appreciate that, we have had blizzards, we have had some calf mortality, not only in our state but other places.

You would just keep going?

I have asked if you would work on adjustment there.

I joined with Senators Thune, Klobuchar, and others, and we passed the Ocean Shipping Container Act through the Senate.

Okay. And so when do you anticipate funding announcements then for round three?

I think it really does also correlate into being ready to prevent the next kind of pandemic, so we don't have what happened with COVID-19.

Rural broadband, obviously you have got significant funds in terms of rural broadband, and obviously it is a priority, and I think a bipartisan priority so, you know, what is--where are you at with getting those dollars out, and what is…

We can't have more regulation red tape, we have got to cut through this.

I think the public very much wants just given what is going on and has gone on nowadays with COVID and everything else.

I have heard you say before that the Department of AG touches the lives of all Americans every day, and in every way and that is certainly true.

When are we going to see some of these supply chain problems ameliorate?

FDA plays a critical role in advancing the safety and prosperity of our Nation.

The public health emergency declaration in 2020 allows the FDA to issue emergency use authorizations.

I appreciate that. But it is particularly that one category.

I appreciate the efforts being made to address these important issues.

The reality is that these RVOs will slash demand for biofuel and will have devastating, long-lasting consequences for Iowa farmers and producers.

We need action now, and unfortunately, the President has shown a reluctance to forcefully engage on free trade.