Craig Stadtmueller on Camp Courageous Waffle Breakfast

This is Iowa Talking Points The Candidates Produced by Studio 5 at Mud Advertising and Totally Iowa Media Where you hear from candidates in the November 2026 General Election Now Iowa Talking Points The Candidates From Studio 5 at Mud and Cedar Falls Here is Jeff Stein

Hello and welcome.

The election for Southeast Iowa's first congressional district will seem familiar to some, as this will be the third consecutive election in which the same Republican and Democrat have been on the ballot.

A difference this year is the presence of an independent in the race and another difference, the issues.

This election, not the same perhaps as in the past.

We are joined today by the incumbent seeking her fourth term in the U.S.

Congress.

Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks is a Republican.

The website is drmillermeeks.com.

That's drmillermeeks.com.

Congresswoman, thank you for taking the time.

It's wonderful to be with you.

What led you to seek a position in Congress and to seek reelection now in 2026?

Well, actually, for me, it was very simple.

I was a doctor practicing medicine, trying to help my patients in Southeast Iowa.

Had several offices and a lot of drive time.

And what I found was that the federal government and health, big, profitable health insurance companies were interfering and harming the very patients I was trying to heal.

And I thought a lot about it and said the best way for me to help is to try to change the system.

And the best way to change the system is to be inside where those decisions are made.

So that's why I ran.

I was very much a novice.

I would not advise anybody to run for office the way that I did.

But ultimately, perseverance, tenacity, which is my entire background and a willingness to serve, led me into Congress in 2020.

What do you think will be some of the key issues the next Congress will be facing when you're sworn in?

The winners are sworn in in 2027.

Well, we still need to address the health care issue.

As we know, Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2020.

10 supposedly because it would lower premiums by $2,500 and bend the cost curve down.

But all we've seen is dramatic escalations in premiums and cost of health care.

So bringing health care costs down is something I've been intent on working on while I'm in Congress and continue to work on.

Lowering prescription drug prices are affordability.

So we're going to have to tackle AI and data centers, which people are concerned about.

And those are valid concerns.

Prescription drug prices are energy mix permitting reform.

Hopefully we're going to get that done in the next two months.

But that is a huge issue that Republicans have to tackle and deal with.

But I think those are some of the big issues that are facing us as we go forward.

I think it is fair to say that regardless of which party has the majority.

in the House or the Senate.

It will be by a small amount.

In other words, we're still going to have this very close margin.

Talk, if you will, about how it has been to navigate through as a member of the majority party, but, again,

by a small margin and certainly history shows you know about small margins in elections.

You know it's very challenging when you have small margins and I wholeheartedly agree with you and I think what the small margins underscore is where the public is and where the electorate is and that means that there there's a lot of volatility now between which party has control and so I think there's a lot of uncertainty and anxiety

among the electorate that they're willing to change parties.

And so when you have small margins, it's hard to get things done because you have to pass things through the house.

And that means you have to have every one of your members on board.

And if any one member is missing, either for a personal health issue, which is typically what happens, or a family health issue, then it makes it much more difficult to get those controversial pieces of legislation through.

And even pieces of legislation that you think are non-controversial.

So we just passed in the House the Rate Pair Protection Act addressing people's concerns when it comes to their electricity prices.

as you add more to the grid and demand has been increasing.

But that legislation on the Senate side was just held up.

because of the Democrat that's in charge.

So Senator Heinrich held up this piece of legislation that passed by a huge bipartisan margin in the House.

So it's difficult to navigate.

I always try to put Iowa first.

I look at what's good for my district, the Southeast Iowa district, what's good for Iowa and what's good for the country.

And part of that comes from my military background and my background of service.

And that's sort of your North Star, your guiding point.

But in Congress, in both the Senate,

house, you have work courses, which I'm one, and then you have show horses.

So you have people that do things to get media attention or to get clicks on social media, and then it makes it very difficult to navigate because we don't all come into Congress with the same mission and goal.

My mission and goal is to do what's best for Iowa and to try to uphold the Constitution.

Let's dig a little deeper into the healthcare issue that you mentioned, and let's start with in the time we have in this segment.

prescription drugs.

And I know as I have personally changed health insurance providers from my employer, there's this wild swing to the point that I was told once, if you don't have insurance, it's cheaper.

Again, the system is just so crazy these days for lack of a better phrase.

How can Congress play a role in a free market enterprise society to help the citizens on that?

Well, first, thank you for that.

We know that when markets work and when there's competition, it brings prices down.

So it's important to have that framework or that foundation as we go forward.

But we also know that when it comes to pharmaceuticals from the

time the manufacturing of a drug to the pharmacy that dispenses that drug, that in that drug supply chain, there is this opaque marketplace called the PBM or Pharmacy Benefit Manager, and that has dramatically increased prices.

So my first attempt to have reform of the PBM marketplace and to get lower prices for patients who pay for the prescriptions was actually in 2019 when I passed the first PBM reform bill in Iowa, and that was in 2019.

We couldn't get the rebates back to the patients, 51% of the rebates that the PBMs require of the pharmaceutical company to put a drug on the formula, your point.

But we got the transparency through and just getting the transparency through has saved some counties $80,000 to $100,000 in their prescription drug cost.

So getting transparency into this marketplace, getting the vertical integration between PBMs and health insurance companies, there is a lot of money that's not going to the drug company that does all the research development and produces the drugs and it's not going to the pharmacy that dispenses the drugs because they're not being paid to dispense the drugs.

They have clawbacks after they've already received payment and they're being reimbursed lower than that.

the acquisition or the cost it takes for them to pay to get a drug before it's dispensed.

So you see a lot of small independent community pharmacies closing, but even the chain pharmacies are closing.

So it is a huge issue that we're tackling.

Both in the state, as I said, my first bill was 2019.

I went to Congress to reform this.

We've passed some very good legislation in the working families tax cut, but also independently, we have some more we're trying to get done and forward.

And so it is an area that can absolutely bring down drug costs for patients.

And one of the things we recently just did is that I voted to cap insulin at $35 before in the past.

That was in 2022.

And I've just introduced a new bill, a bipartisan bill.

with representative to get to cap the price of insulin at $35 for those that are not on Medicare, so on private health insurance.

So looking at trying to make those especially life-saving drugs more affordable.

Where's the pushback?

Is it the pharmaceutical industry who is worried about profits?

Is it them holding out in exchange for perhaps some insulation from liability on things?

Again, this is one of those things where it sounds like common sense, which is why it doesn't seem to happen these days.

And I'm just wondering what you think may be the cause.

Well, you know, most of the pushback comes from people just didn't understand.

So when I first addressed this in 2019, when I was in the Iowa

Senate, people really didn't understand.

They didn't understand the marketplace.

They were concerned.

We had a lot of pushback from manufacturers, self-insured manufacturers.

We had a lot of pushback from the medical insurance companies.

We continued to get pushback from the medical insurance companies as well as by the large PBMs and then people who really don't understand the issue and think that we're interfering with the marketplace.

However, the marketplace has already been interfered with.

There is tremendous vertical integration.

You have the top

six PBMs control 90% of all prescriptions that are filled in the United States.

So we want to have mail order prescriptions done for people.

My parents were military.

I was military.

They had express scripts in the military, but we had a lot of medication come to the house that when my parents were off of, I'm trying to get it back to their pharmacy, try not to get them charged, but there's a lot of waste that comes.

And then you need to have a pharmacy that are available to help people.

immediately or on the weekend and you don't get that through mail order.

So we just want people to have choice.

And in some of my counties, the pharmacy is the only healthcare provider I have.

So I want that local pharmacy to be able to be there and to be able to take care of patients, especially our elderly patients.

There are some who have criticized the Tax Cut Act or the Reconciliation Act, whatever phraseology one wants to use.

And they talk about this as

Cut medical care for people and people are out in the streets, etc.

And when I ask for specifics of how I'm not sure I understand what they're claiming Rebut if you will the claims that you've heard that you cast votes to

cut health care for rural Iowans.

I think that's probably the shortest way of phrasing it.

There's not a hospital that has closed because of what we did in the working families tax cut.

Most of the provisions don't come into place until 2028.

But most importantly, what we did was to reform and strengthen Medicaid.

Illegal immigrants should not be on Medicaid.

It is a pull factor to bring people into the country, but they shouldn't be.

Medicaid, you have American taxpayers paying for their taxes that go to Medicaid, that is there to protect the most vulnerable.

So Medicaid is supposed to go to...

pregnant women, children, those with disabilities, including children with disabilities, veterans, and then dual-eligible, meaning seniors that are on Medicare, but they're too low income and they can't afford the copays or the deductibles.

And so that's what Medicare is intended for.

We supported that.

everything that we did is to make sure that money is there for them.

We tackled waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid.

And I can remember our colleagues and our Democrats on the other side of the aisle saying, there is no waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid.

I think everybody now realizes there is tremendous waste, fraud, and abuse.

Minnesota alone is $9 billion.

And it was overlooked and swept under the rug by the Democrats in charge in Minnesota.

I believe that there is some waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid in every

state.

One of our bills was to address the waste, and that was the Medicaid Improvement Act, which is incorporated into that.

The Medicaid Improvement Act didn't take health care away from anyone, but the CBO said it would save $140 billion.

What did it do?

It requires states to verify an address.

So if you register for Medicaid in Iowa, we're paying per member per month to a managed care organization to provide health care.

But if you move and you don't tell Iowa that you moved to Illinois, the federal government is now paying Iowa and Illinois, and the money is going directly to an insurance company.

This year we found one individual that was registered in 23 states.

So think about that.

If the federal government is paying three

100 to 500 or the federal and state government 3 to 500 per month for an individual in 23 states to be on Medicaid So no benefit was cut to anyone, but that waste that's a dollar now that can go to a child or a pregnant woman or someone with disabilities We had work requirements.

So work requirements if you are able bodied between 19 and 64 80 hours per month to either work

volunteer or be in an educational training program.

You're exempt if you have a dependent child under 14 if you're raising a dependent adult who is disabled.

If you have a medical disability, if you're in a substance use program or a brain health program, you're also exempt.

So you have tremendous exemptions for those people who don't have the capacity or cannot work or raising children and can't work.

But otherwise, I left home at 16.

I started community college, I started working, and I've been financially independent ever since.

I worked myself through community college, then a degree in nursing to work at night, then through a master's, and then through medical school.

I don't think it's too much to ask people to be willing to work or volunteer or be in an educational training program 80 hours a month.

in order to get free benefits from other taxpayers making 60,000 a year to pay taxes to allow them to have free healthcare.

So the work requirements I think are extremely important and it also reasserts the value and dignity of work and how it helps people to have a purpose in life and the dignity and the value and the confidence and self-esteem that you develop when doing a job well.

Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Makes, the incumbent Republican First Congressional District, drmillermakes.com is the website, drmillermakes.com.

More when Iowa Talking Points, the candidates, continues in a moment.

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You're watching Iowa Talking Points, the candidates.

Here again is Jeff Stein.

And we continue this conversation with Marionette Miller-Makes, the incumbent congresswoman from southeast Iowa's first congressional district.

She's a Republican running for re-election.

And in our prior segment, you spoke a bit about your background, but I'll give you a chance to tell more about the story, because again, many of us

have had similar situations, putting ourselves through school, et cetera, but you have a rather compelling story, if I may say.

Well, thank you for that.

So I'm the fourth of eight kids.

My dad was enlisted Air Force, mostly stationed in Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

So I grew up in Texas.

My mom had a GED.

There were eight kids.

So to say that we grew up in humble circumstances would probably be an understatement, but we did.

My dad took extra jobs on the weekend to support the family.

I remember being a teenager right before I got burned, he would have me go with him to a pizza parlor on Sunday to clean.

We were cleaning the pizza parlor and he didn't necessarily want me to clean, but it was 5 a.m.

and he just wanted somebody to keep him company and I was the one that was the early riser in the family.

So both my parents worked to support their

their children.

They often would complain that so-and-so was the boss because they had a college degree even though they didn't know anything.

And so from a young age, I figured I was going to go to college because I didn't want someone to be the boss of me who didn't know anything.

But it was not something that was feasible.

My oldest brother graduated high school, went into the Army in the Green Berets.

My second oldest brother graduated high school when the Army went to Vietnam.

My older sister wanted to get married and have kids.

And I was thinking about being a teacher because I love school.

And then I got burned when I was 15.

And it's not unusual through adverse circumstances and pain that something else comes about.

And so during that very long hospitalization, I decided I was going to be a doctor.

And so I came home from the hospital six weeks later and told my parents that I was going to be a doctor.

And, you know, like many people who are smart, intelligent, self-learning people, they were just wasted and discouraging.

And as a teenager, when your parents are discouraging, you just think they don't believe in you.

They don't think you can do it.

They underestimate you.

And so my response to that was to leave home at 16, get a job, and I was going to show my parents that I in fact could do it.

So I got a job.

I started at San Antonio Junior College and figured if I went into nursing, I could work at night.

And it would be a similar profession.

I enlisted in the Army at 18, and so I was working, going to school.

I did get a degree in nursing.

I went from enlisted to officer when I got my degree in nursing in between times.

I'm both in the military and out of the military.

Got a master's in education.

Ultimately, I got into medical school.

And I was the last person in my medical school class.

I remember this very distinctly.

And I remember orientation day with my father and my mother.

And my dad starts chuckling in the way that my dad would.

And he says, I can't believe they let you into medical school when you didn't graduate high school.

And was very proud of their daughter that had gone to medical school.

And so last in my class, by third year, I was 12th out of 214 students and then came to Iowa to do my residency in ophthalmology.

But when you work that hard for something, it's your passion about it.

It's important about it.

And it's why.

I was willing to give up a career in medicine where I had very high patient satisfaction and I did very well.

I was willing to give up a successful career to go to Congress because it's important to reform the healthcare system, one that emphasizes the patient-doctor relationship, one that allows patients to make choices instead of bureaucrats and insurance companies.

And that's why I'm so passionate about this issue.

So you served in Des Moines and now Washington.

What skillset did you learn in Des Moines that has helped you in Washington or what are some of the things where you still go down the hall and shake your head?

I think one of the skill sets you learn or one of the things that you learn is that even people that are in the same party as you don't always want the same thing.

And so you have to navigate those relationships.

And then the other thing that I learned is that there are tremendously dedicated people, both who are elected.

and who are helping those who are elected, who really are trying to move a state forward and a country forward.

They're tremendously dedicated public servants, and this is on both sides of the aisle.

We may differ on what we think is the best route or the best policy, but there are people who are very dedicated to trying to help their communities, their states, and their country to move forward and have better policies and to better help the citizens they serve.

So you learn both of those things.

You learn that networking is important.

I'm an introvert.

People are always surprised by that.

But the number of conversations, the number of interactions, the amount of networking you have to do to be able to move things forward is tremendous.

So you learn that very rapidly, that those relationships that you're building are important.

And then you also learn you have to be with the people you serve.

So that means you have to be back in your district, in your county, in your district, and be communicating and talking with people.

Almost every bill that we've put forward in Congress

comes from someone we've talked to in Iowa who's inspired us or a problem we're trying to solve.

And as a nurse and a doctor and a veteran, you know, you go because you want to execute.

You want to solve problems for people.

So that's what I think I do best is try to solve problems for people and listen.

And again, thank you for wearing the uniform.

So some of us did not have to.

Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks is our guest.

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Watch all the programs in the Iowa Talking Point series online at IowaTalkingPoints.com.

Iowa Talking Points, the candidates, continues with Jeff Stein.

And we continue this conversation with Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks, Republican First Congressional District, Southeast Iowa.

Dr. Miller-Meeks.com is the website, drmillermeeks.com.

And as I mentioned at the beginning of the program,

Your Democrat opponent is familiar, familiar to you, familiar to voters.

There is also an independent who joined us for a prior conversation.

As folks in the first district go to the polls for the November 3rd election, distinguish yourself from your opponents, please.

Well, I can't say much about the independent opponent.

Don't know this person as well.

But certainly my Democrat opponent would be right in alignment with the Democrat Socialist of America party.

So this is an individual who has in 2020 funded and suggested people send money to organizations that defund the police, that abolish prisons, support sanctuary cities.

and to abolish ICE.

And when they were in the state legislature in the House, voted in fact against healthcare provisions for law enforcement and against the back the blue legislation.

Also voted against every tax cut and said that they would get rid of the working families tax cut, which is the largest tax cut for low and middle income Americans that we have ever seen.

Had we not passed that, it would have been a huge tax increase.

for everybody.

So when you were still undergoing 20% cumulative inflation under Joe Biden to then have been hit with the largest tax increase in our history would have just devastated many low-income and middle-income families.

And it would have made it very difficult for them to be able to navigate through the provisions that would have come about had we not passed it.

And that includes employers, manufacturers, self-insured.

So she's just

as radical as they come.

She was the chair of the DEI program at the University of Iowa.

And it has never talked about affordability until recently.

So I would say are limited.

conversations about affordability in the previous times that she has run for office.

So she fits right in with the party platform.

She is, you know, radical, progressive, extreme.

And I think also voted in the state legislature to make it easier for sex offenders to get off the sex offender list.

Voted to keep boys and girls sports.

So typical things that are, you know, issues that the majority of Iowans disagree with.

and so disagree with her stance, and she was also one of very few Democrats that voted in that way.

In contrast, I tend to be an independent thinker.

I'm looking at what can I do that promotes Iowa, that puts Iowa first, and is good for my constituents, good for the people I serve, as well as good for our country.

So we have the Working Families Tax Cut 21st Century Housing, the Ratepayer Protection Act that we just passed.

So looking at how do we make energy more affordable, how do we make

the cost of food more affordable.

trying to navigate that with our farmers, passing year round E-15, but also had a bill that would remove some of the tariffs on fertilizer from Morocco.

So we're continually working to be able to put Iowa on the map, whether it's in biofuels, our agricultural industry, or in our manufacturing.

So we've been very supportive of the manufacturers in our district, in our state, and wanting to bring more manufacturing to the United States.

In addition to which, I've been on record as supporting

at $35 and actually working to lower health care costs, both health insurance premiums as well as prescription drug costs.

I ask every person in this situation this question.

The first vote you take as a member of a new Congress is a leader of your caucus, either as Speaker of the House in this case or as a minority leader of the caucus.

Are you supportive of Speaker Johnson?

Should he be reelected?

Should you be reelected in his current role or as the leader of the caucus, depending on the majority minority breakdown?

Well, certainly it depends on the breakdown, but Speaker Johnson has done a good job for our caucus.

And we've had, you know, good people that.

he has brought in with him.

So it's not just who the speaker is, but who do they bring with them?

Who are they listening to?

And so, been supportive of what Speaker Johnson has done.

He's been very supportive of his members as well.

So, yes, in all likelihood, support Speaker Johnson should he choose to run again.

One of the things that the Republicans ran on was regular order, which is just the fancy way of saying we're going to pass budget bills in a timely manner before the fiscal year starts.

We don't have to have continuing resolutions.

Now I understand with a small minority, you have to get help from the other side, but why has that been difficult for members of the House, members of the Senate?

Why is it difficult for Washington to get back on the calendar that they set up?

Yeah, I think that's a great question.

One, it's because of the calendar.

So the federal fiscal year is October 1st to September 30th.

And so if you think about...

elections, you have elections in November and then you're sworn in in January.

And then the committee makeup, so depending on who the majority party is, they get more members on a committee.

So you have to set up all the committees, what members are on the committees.

So you have to get all of that in place.

So you really don't start having committees meet until about March.

And so that now means you have until March, until September to start passing legislation.

So it's a very compressed timeline

to be able to pass 12 individual appropriation bills, which is what we try to do.

We did, in fact, pass 12 individual appropriation bills.

We're trying to get that back onto the regular order of calendar so we don't have big omnibus bills.

But I also want to say that all of the bills that are discussed in our appropriations bills, those bills have gone through subcommittee committee.

We've been very diligent.

about having them go through that process where they have gone through the appropriate subcommittee, committee, then before they go to the appropriations committee.

So there is vetting in that vein.

But the calendar doesn't work.

We've talked about changing the calendar.

The calendar makes it difficult to do.

And then you're right.

You're trying to bring members of your own party together and get them all on board with something.

We have members who want to do more cutting.

And when only 30% of the budget is the discretionary spending, it's not

mandatory spending, we don't want to cut Medicare, we don't want to cut Medicaid, you know, the PACDAC, we don't want to cut defense.

So when you've got 70% of your budget is stuff you're not going to touch, it makes it difficult to do the amount of decrease in the budget that some of our members want to do.

So you're trying to work with your own members and then also trying to work with the Democrats because if you do it in a bipartisan fashion, it's more likely to pass the Senate where you need 60 votes.

And it's also difficult if the current fiscal year budget is not set.

Yes.

Come back in Washington with a new Congress.

You've got to do the last Congress's work before you begin your own.

And it's like dominoes, you just get further behind.

Yeah, that is correct.

So it can be very challenging, but our Appropriations Committee has worked really hard to get those bills.

And, you know, our appropriations bills to this point have all been bipartisan.

And so we're very proud of that.

And we've also passed some major legislation with the 21st Century Housing Act, which is going to make housing more affordable.

It's an important bill.

working families tax cut, the Rape Pair Protection Act.

As I said, we just lowering healthcare premiums for all Americans act my bill, which if we could get that passed in the Senate would in fact help lower healthcare premiums by a minimum of 11%.

So it's a big deal to get these bills passed.

And then as I said, working on further PBM reform, but permitting reform, very important.

uh... you know everybody wants permitting reform doesn't matter who you are uh... both parties want permitting reform and we had a bicameral and bipartisan group meeting for the past couple of years on permitting reform so i really hope we can get that done this congress

and i've talked to others similarly situated but it has to be frustrating even though you know how the system works but you're in the house you pass bills and you've done all you can do

And nothing happens on the other side and it sounds an awful lot like 2018 the same way where I recall then speaker Ryan talking about we've passed all these bills.

We can't get them across the finish line.

I guess you just

You have to find other ways to get things done then.

It is extremely frustrating.

Let me just say that.

It is very frustrating.

It's why some people say that the Senate is sclerotic, that nothing is moving there.

But you do have to work with your colleagues.

And constitutionally, there's a reason for things to slow down in the Senate.

And there was bad legislation in my time in Congress through the Biden administration that didn't go forward because the Senate stopped it.

So, you know, I don't think you get rid of the filibuster.

I think the Senate

is meant to slow things down.

But there are a lot of bills that we pass by wide margins that are bipartisan that the Senate could pass.

So I'm just going to say Senate, please.

I mean, you know, we finally got the farm bill done.

We need year-round E-15, lowering healthcare premiums for all America's Act, Rate Bear Protection Act.

Let's get those things done.

It's very important for both Iowans and for the American people.

Not a short list.

No.

Never is.

Marionette Miller-Meeks, Congresswoman, Republican First District of Iowa.

Dr. Miller-Meeks.com is the website of final segment as Iowa Talking Points, the candidates continues after this.

Iowa has a wonderful heritage and each day I'll share these stories of historic people and events with you.

I'm Jeff Stein.

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You're watching Iowa Talking Points, the candidates.

Here again is Jeff Stein.

A final few minutes with Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks, Republican first congressional district, taking her fourth term in office, first elected in 2020.

DrMillerMeeks.com is her website.

A couple of things that I want to touch on, and this first question dovetails on something you said in the last segment with the budget and entitlements.

If the math I see is right, come 2032, we'll have a trigger for automatic reduction of social security benefits absent something happening in the meantime.

So that's going to be something that, in theory, the next Congress should take up.

thoughts on how we should address the social security issue?

Well, certainly both social security and Medicare are an issue and are a problem as we've added benefits to them from when they were their first inception.

As we know, the amount that you pay into social security, the income cap increases every single year.

So the amount of income you're taxed on for social security increases.

And I was one of those members who voted on a fiscal responsibility act that had a bipartisan debt commission.

I strongly believe that this is something that has to be done in a bipartisan way with members input from both parties.

Otherwise, it's going to...

keep being a political football, and one party uses it to attack the other party one.

But we do need to address this issue.

We cannot shy away from it.

It is the biggest drivers right now of our budget.

So you have defense, you have Medicare, Medicaid Social Security, and then debt service now.

And so those are our biggest drivers right now.

So yes, we can prioritize our discretionary spending, but we have mandatory spending.

And we also have

You know, a lower birth rate, so you have a large baby boomer population that coming already on Medicare or already receiving Social Security, but you have less people in the workforce.

So our labor participation rate is important.

That's why the working family's tax cut was so important, to get more people into the workforce, better paying jobs, expand manufacturing, allow those businesses to exceed, small businesses and farms to succeed, because we need those individuals.

within the workforce, paying taxes, better paying jobs to increase the amount of money that comes into our treasury.

But we need to have a bipartisan debt commission to address both the social security and the Medicare issue, both of those.

We are having this conversation in mid-September.

Folks may be listening to it on the radio or viewing it online right up to election day.

And so that is as a frame of reference.

And again, for more than two decades, you wore the uniform of our country.

And so as

the nation is involved in military conflicts, whether it's Iran or anything else.

What are the things a member of Congress should be looking at in separation of powers, exercising congressional authority, etc., with regard to these international conflicts?

Well, first and foremost, I'm just going to tell you, as a veteran and an individual who had family members servo overseas in conflict, and I mentioned my brother going to Vietnam,

First and foremost is the action necessary.

Before you commit troops and put lives at risk and families at risk.

You need to know what your mission is what you're trying to accomplish.

Is it something that you can accomplish?

What's the best approach to do that now?

You expect the commander-in-chief through his myriad of advisors to be able to make those determinations however We have for the past five decades or so given latitude to the president the commander of chief regardless of what party they are 60 to 90 days to commit troops and engage

because they have information that we don't have.

And so when it comes past that 60 to 90 day time period, then I as a member of Congress want to know what's the mission?

Can we win?

How many lives are at risk?

What's the cost going to be?

What is the exit strategy?

What is our method for success?

We don't want to lose a conflict again, as we did in Vietnam, and we don't want to be in forever wars.

And so I think it's important that we remember the constitutional authority to declare war comes from Congress.

And so military members look at that, and we trust the commander in chief.

We're willing to give latitude to the commander in chief, but we also sworn oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

And so those issues, what's the mission?

Can we achieve the mission?

What's the right strategy?

And what determines success?

So then you know when you're going to extricate yourself because you don't want to put the lives of American service members at risk unless it's absolutely necessary.

And correct me if my history is wrong, but did not the War Powers Act come as a

response to Vietnam so that we did not as a nation have that experience

again?

Yes, because Vietnam was never declared as a war.

And when we do have open authorization for use of military force, AUMS, we still have

open AUMFs.

I mean, there was legislation to close those out in the time that I've been in Congress.

But we still have some open operations or authorization when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan.

But I think this is an important issue that people need to be mindful of.

And it doesn't matter what the party of the president is.

I supported the president when he went into Venezuela because I knew it was happening there.

I support the president in

You know prohibiting Iran from having a nuclear weapon seven presidents in my lifetime have said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon When you talk to the Middle Eastern countries as I have done and visited with their heads of state They don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, but we also have to be

focused on supporting the American people, on the needs of the American people, focused on those domestic issues where families are struggling, as well as having an idea of we're not going to be in forever wars, and we want to know, can we win?

We don't want to lose.

Can we win?

And what's the timeline for doing that?

How much is it going to cost?

But we have to keep our eye on what's best for the American people in these domestic issues that are so critically important to them.

You are asking voters in the first district to return you for a fourth term.

I'll let you take our remaining couple of minutes and make that case to them directly.

I would say that I've been very in tuned throughout the district and listening to people meeting with them within the district and in Washington DC to address their concerns and their problems.

So whether it's problems with the IRS, whether it's problems with getting a passport or a visa or their social security, our office has been very diligent in working with

them.

We've helped veterans to get their veterans benefits.

And most importantly, we have been in Congress working on their behalf and putting them first.

So whether it is lower premiums for all America's act to help lower health insurance premiums, whether it's taking on the health insurance companies and the big PBMs trying to get

prices for prescription drugs down to help our manufacturing get roads, bridges and infrastructure built in Iowa.

We've been there all the way by their side, being one of the most accessible members of Congress, but also an independent thinker.

So we're there to serve and we're making sure that we are available to individuals so that we can address their problems and work in a positive manner for them.

And so I think that has, no one deserves to be reelected, but I think we've earned the privilege of being reelected.

to this district in our great state.

Congresswoman, thank you for stopping by the Iowa Talking Points table and good luck in November.

Thank you so much.

Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks, Republican, Southeast Iowa's first congressional district, seeking reelection for a fourth term, drmillermeeks.com is the website that's drmillermeeks.com.

And that brings us to the close of this edition of Iowa Talking Points.

The candidates...

Thank you for watching.

This has been Iowa Talking Points, the candidates.

Produced by Studio 5 at Mud Advertising and totally Iowa Media.

For more information on this series, go to iowatalkingpoints.com.

We appreciate everyone who stopped by at the annual celebrity cow milking contest sponsored by the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau at the National Cattle Congress Fair yesterday.

Congratulations to TV 9's Rebecca Vaughn.

She followed up a second place finish last year with first place and a huge trophy.

Go to our Facebook page and you can watch if you dare the competition and we also have photos out on the socials.

Of course that was just day one of the great

National Cattle Congress Fair, 116th edition, and tonight, special entertainment, tonight and tomorrow night in the pavilion.

Now, you folks know where the pavilion is.

That's where we have our Iowa Fest picnics in the summer.

That's where we had the National Ag Day program in March.

But tonight and tomorrow night, performance by Adam Calvert.

And again, this is from eight until 11.

They'll start after the Bronx and Bull Riding Challenge next door in the hippodrome.

but it's free with your gate admission.

Adam Calvert joins us now live in the studio.

Good morning, sir.

Thank you

for taking the time.

Thanks for having me on, Jeff.

Now that's a voice.

It's early.

It's still trying to warm up.

I was going to say, you tell a guy in music, come in for a nine o'clock interview.

It's like, dude, what are you doing to me?

Right?

Tell us a bit now.

Now you're a country performer.

and you come by this honest from what I understand you grew up on a farm.

I did.

It was a small 20 acre farm that we still have.

I'm an only child and being outside was a big part of my upbringing and we've kind of continued that to our move to Nashville.

We bought 11 acres outside of town and we hope to make it into a small working farm as well.

And I asked you to bring the guitar so you can favor us with a little bit of music here after we talk a bit more about the background.

What led you to a career in music?

Because this is not easy stuff.

I looked at the tour schedule.

This is not easy stuff.

We love it, though.

I'm independent and unsigned, so it gives it a little extra work there.

We pretty much do everything hands-on ourselves.

With the age of five years old, I went to our local county fair in southeastern Ohio to see an up-and-coming country artist by the name of Toby Keith.

And at five years old, I was out in the audience singing along, and here I am today, so I guess it's safe to say the rest is history.

But at that age, he took the time to meet me, and I got a picture with him.

And Neil McCoy was there as well at another show, and I got to meet him.

And those guys kind of bestowed that upon me, and that's why I still love county fairs and festivals today.

Tonight, eight until 11, after the rodeo, until 11, it's free with your gate admission to the National Cattle Congress Fair.

It's at the pavilion.

Adam Calvert will be performing tonight and tomorrow.

Might as well go both nights.

Why not?

Yeah, absolutely.

It's a great venue and great people here who will appreciate the music.

And as I've been listening to some of the music, this is stuff that speaks to your upbringing, does it not?

Absolutely.

Almost everything I write is about past experience from my life and things that I've experienced, you know, with other people.

In fact, I just had a song come out last night at midnight.

It's called Horses in Ohio.

We'll be performing it live tonight.

And I wrote that song about a fella from my hometown in Ohio that was a rodeo star.

When you think of Ohio, you don't really think of, you know, rodeo people.

You think of Montana and Wyoming, but this fella was that guy.

And at five years old, he gave me my start.

You know, he allowed me to perform at his

rodeo and sing the national anthem and he passed away last year and I was in a right in Nashville and the writers I was with could tell that I was a bit down and they asked me why and when I told them they said well we need to write about him and we came up with the title Horses in Ohio so that song came out last night and we're gonna celebrate performing it here at the Cattle Congress.

And this is part of your current tour which is called Freedom Feels Like That and that is also another single that

folks

are very familiar with.

One of the things that I found interesting, again, as I'm listening to some of the music, and you're telling the story about, yeah, I gave me my start when I was five.

You know, you had to feel it, and I'm guessing as you were growing up, it's like, well, this is just what five-year-olds do, right?

Because if you started overthinking it,

that's not going to turn out well.

I just always loved music and loved country music in particular.

And you know, in and out of school, you know, I was kind of picked on a little bit for because my mom and dad would get me to play the local festivals in my hometown and I'd perform at retirement facilities.

And it was very like while the other kids were playing sports, you know, that's what I was doing.

And so that kind of got me a little picked on, you know, through grade school.

And then at the age of 12 years old, I moved from Eastern Ohio to East Tennessee, where Dolly Parton's from.

and got a full-time job at a country theater called the Country Tonight Theater.

And that's kind of where everything changed for me.

You know, I went from being a kid that was just a school kid dreaming of playing country music to having to be homeschooled and go to this country theater and perform two shows a day, almost, I think it was 1500 shows in three years.

And that was really where things kind of changed for me.

You mentioned Toby Keith earlier.

Do you ever go back to Ohio and...

Strum a little bit of how do you like me now?

Oh, you best believe

it.

Oh, yeah, you best believe I actually have a show in Ohio coming up October 10th We'll be releasing the music video for horses in Ohio in my hometown where mr. Art Post awaits from it's gonna be a very exciting evening

AdamCalvertMusic.com is the website.

You had a big focus group to come up with the name for that, didn't

you?

That's right.

I got it before someone else bought it.

Smart.

Smart.

Shows all the tours, and all the tours stops, and it's tonight and tomorrow at the Great National Cattle Congress.

in Waterloo, and then you're down to Gatlinburg, and as you mentioned, Ohio out to the West Coast.

And you've had the opportunity to perform with some folks that, as I looked at the list, we just had at the State Fair, Hardy and

others.

Oh man, it's been, this summer has been an honor.

You know, we opened up for Corey Canna fell out of Texas that's got a couple songs on country radio today right now.

We opened up for Lone Star over in Sac City, Iowa at the Sac County Fair.

That was incredible.

I've opened up for them a few times and they're just, they always

bring a huge crowd.

Like everyone just loves Lone Star.

But yeah, Hardy was amazing.

I mean, he's just an incredible songwriter.

And then earlier this spring, we opened up for Brett Young.

I'd love his music, love his voice, love his brand.

And we opened up for him down at the Clay County Fair in Florida.

So, had some great county fairs this summer and opened up for some really incredible country artists.

Now, I am no friend of publicist because I go off script,

okay?

I love that.

So,

I do want you to...

do a little of freedom feels like that because, again, that's the name of the tour.

That's the single prior to the one that dropped tonight.

But as somebody who has grown up and lived in Iowa his whole life and really hates cities, all right?

I mean, I live in the country in the woods.

Love

it.

This is, you know, just because I have to do that.

Sure.

Where did City Limit come from?

So that, just that idea right there, you know, going into Nashville.

So like for years, you know, I spent time in Nashville, crashing on couches, getting hotel rooms.

And my fiance and I looked for, I mean, almost five years for property outside of town, which meant, you know, driving an hour outside of town every day and coming in several times a day.

And we finally landed on that 11 acre property about 41 miles outside of town.

And the idea of the song came up because, you know, I often have to leave that.

that beautiful pristine area of the of the country to go into Nashville, which I love music city, but it's busy.

It's big.

And even after just one day of going in there to write and record, I'm ready.

I've had my city lemon.

It's time to get back out to the country.

Give us a little of that if you don't

mind.

Yeah.

I've got em, I need a back row to widen under stars in the sky I need some campfire smoke floating up through some pines Little hometown slow down with you by my side It's safe to say that I've hit it My city limit

Oh, that's fantastic.

That's what you're going to hear tonight and tomorrow at the Great National Cattle Congress Fair in Waterloo.

Adam Calvert is going to perform in the pavilion and best deal you're going to find in a long time.

It's free with your gate admission.

They'll start up after the rodeo next door in the hippodrome.

He's in the pavilion right off the midway in the food trucks.

AdamCalvertMusic.com is the website.

Freedom feels like that.

Give us a sense because again you're talking about growing up in the country.

I think the people listening to this conversation across the state of Iowa will understand more so than some of these other folks that you may play to over the course of time, but give us a sense of what you're trying to accomplish with that.

Well, for one, it's my first patriotic song, you know, which I've been wanting to do that for, write my own patriotic song.

So for the folks that come out and see the show, we bring our own production.

We bring a big production.

I'm one of the few artists out of Nashville that we bring our own production with us.

And so it adds a lot to the show, to the scene, everything.

One of the things we bring with us is

parachute that we fly behind us.

That's our backdrop.

It's a used parachute.

And we get vets up to sign that shoot.

And it's a very special part of the show.

I just love it.

And for years, you know, I did, I did God bless the USA or courtesy of the red, white and blue, something like that.

I performed that while those vets signed it.

And just for years, I was like, I got to get my own song up there.

So we finally recorded Freedom Feels like that.

It's in the show.

The vets will sign the shoot during that song.

And what makes it really, really special is for me, we were able to get a good friend of mine who's Sergeant

Bill Davidson he's a retired paratrooper in the music video and we're able to feature him so we made sure to honor the vets that's what the song is about but also the song is not entirely about that you know freedom feels differently for everybody you know like you said you know for folks in the city you know maybe it's getting out of the city and going to hit some golf balls or going fishing for the weekend you know hiking in Gatlinburg you know whatever it might be for you to keep your sanity you know that's that's kind of what the song is about for me freedom feels like getting in a manual driven car going out some gravel roads

listening to some country gold music, but I know that regardless of how freedom feels like to each person, we wouldn't have that freedom if it weren't for those folks that have served or are currently serving in armed forces.

And what I really appreciated about what you said was, yeah, I'll play this song or this song, but I need my own, but it has to come naturally, right?

I mean, because again, if you sat there and said, all right,

Today, I'm going to write a patriotic song.

You got nothing.

There's there's no heart behind it.

I mean, I imagine it came to you when it was the time.

Oh, yeah.

Well, after spending a lot of time with Mr. Bill Davidson, that guy is a true war hero.

I mean, he served in Vietnam and saved so many lives.

And just after talking with him and of course, my other writers, we figured out this is where we want to go with that song.

And it took several rights.

You know, some songs come together in a few hours.

This one definitely came together in several rights.

But that's sometimes what it takes.

Now that's interesting to me because, again, I think this is now how it is done more often, certainly in Nashville, maybe other genres where...

you're getting together with people.

You know, I mean, long ago as I'm growing up in this, I'm thinking of somebody with a pencil behind their ear strumming

a

guitar, making a few notes and trying to

put

this on.

It's a real collaborative effort these days, isn't it?

It is, and I mean, every right's different, you know, but I really try to write with people that I'm comfortable with, that I've been writing now with for several years, that I know I can walk into the room with them.

And again,

I still go on Music Row and write and we still go into writing, publishing houses, things like that.

But when I can, I advocate for everyone to come out to my land and write.

Because I'm like, come out here, if we want we can have a couple beers, we can shoot some guns, write some four wheelers, cook some food, and I guarantee that a good song is gonna come out all of that.

Well, if you're supposed to be writing about a certain lifestyle that will appeal to the audience,

I don't think you're doing it where it's paved over and skyscrapers

and asphalt and everything else.

And it's hard.

I love music.

I mean, there's a vibe to that too.

Like being around all of those folks like minded, there's something about that.

But like you said, like being out in the country, that's what I'm writing is country music.

And it's actually worked out really well.

We started to build that place into a writer's retreat.

And we've used it to entice writers that may not normally write with someone that's new and up and coming, but they will when they know they've got a place to go to hang out for the day.

I was able to get Chad Brock out there to write a song with me.

He had the song in the 90s.

She said, yes, I said, wow.

And he pitched the song we wrote to Craig Morgan.

And Craig Morgan is apparently going to cut it.

So I hope that goes through.

You know, some things don't, some things fall through, but I think that one's going to hit it.

He's Adam Calvert.

AdamCalvertMusic.com.

So you can learn much more about him before you go see him tonight and tomorrow at the National Cattle Congress Fair.

He plays in the Pavilion.

eight, nine, whenever they get done with the rodeo, until 11.

And it's free with your gate admission.

And you can get your tickets right now for all of it.

NationalCatalCongress.com.

This is the second of four days of the 116th National Cattle Congress Fair.

And Mr. Calvert joins us in the studio live on News Talk 1540 KXEL.

Freedom Feels Like That is the name of the tour.

And it's the name of the song I'm going to ask you to favor

us with

now.

I'm excited man.

This is gonna be such a great weekend of shows.

First road trip when you turn 18.

Running wide open to PCB.

Felt like summer would never end.

Making new memories with your old friends.

Flying fast down an old farm road.

Arm around you girl.

Sun setting slow.

First real kiss in a Silverado.

Yeah, don't you know?

Freedom feels like sunrise, breaking on a brand new day.

Being able to say what you want to say.

Flying that war torn flag, your granddaddy waves.

Freedom feels like living that life you've always dreamed of.

Saying I do to you one true love.

No limits, no worries, got nothing holding you back.

Freedom feels like that.

Freedom feels like that.

Freedom feels like that.

That's Adam Calvert and that's what you're going to hear when you go to the National Candle Congress Fair tonight and tomorrow pavilion

from eight, eight, 39 o'clock, whenever the rodeo's done until about 11, it's free with your gated mission.

Freedom feels like that tour continues Waterloo tonight and tomorrow.

As you just come up with a song and then, you know, somebody like me says, go play, you know, it's kind of like, you know, dance monkey.

I mean,

it's,

it's, it's so rude, but it's interesting for sure.

But you get into it, right?

I mean, this is the thing that, that to me is important because you've got a set list for a show.

it changes a little based on the dynamic of the crowd but you know it's sort of like when people come up to a comedian on the street and say all right say something funny I mean it's hard to get into it but man that was

great.

Oh thank you and you know it is such an interesting lifestyle and job you know but I often think back to like bartenders and just old school like the industry's changes become so fast and everything but

At the end of the day, I'm just a servant.

At the end of the day, I'm just one step above the guy that made the king happy, the jester.

But I love that.

It's such an important job because doctors can heal in certain ways, and therapists can heal in certain ways, and I can heal people in certain ways with my music, and I never forget that.

It's obviously a talent that you were born with and cultivated because, again, from...

the time you were five years old.

Could you imagine doing anything else other than this basic concept?

I mean it might look a little different, the bus might look a little different, the venues might look a little different.

Can you really see yourself doing anything but this?

I really can't.

And even, even with it changing, like people say all the time, they're like, you know, for folks listening, you know, we do a tour bus meet and greet giveaway during the show.

So we bring people from the audience to meet the band on the bus.

So come out and see the show.

And maybe you just might get to meet our band and hang out in the bus.

But our bus is a 1986.

It's got probably a million plus miles on it.

It's a manual and I drive it.

And, you know, for me, I have a lot of people say, well, one day you won't have to drive your bus or one day you'll have a new bus.

And I'm like,

Like those days will be really cool, but I'll look back on these days because these days were so special.

And I don't know, some things will change, but I hope a lot just stays the same.

Well, if you're really, if you really care about the product, you got to control it, right?

I mean, right down to driving your own bus

because, you

know, it's like, that's how you really feel the experience.

I

don't know how you write a song about driving down a road late at night unless you're driving the bus.

Well, it's crazy though that I just wrote a song with a writer in Nashville by the name of Kelly Johnson.

And she wrote a song on Riley Greene's latest album.

So she's had some great success and it was an honor to work with her.

But, you know, she as the artist, she asked me, she's like, well, you have some titles, something I can work off of.

And I was driving the bus about three weeks ago in the middle of the night.

And I asked Paige, my fiance, who everyone give her a big shout out.

She's the one that really makes all this happen.

She booked this L.S.

of what along with Mark.

But but, you know, I looked over at Paige and I was like, hey, where are we?

what's the directions, or asked her some sort of question, and the way she answered me was just the cutest thing I'd seen.

I mean, we've been together a decade, and it still makes me catch my breath.

And I looked over, and she goes, what?

And I just smiled, and I said, you're as cute as they come.

And then I looked at her, then I looked at her again, and I said, wait a second, that's not a bad, you know.

I'm always hunting for those alliterations.

I'm like, that's that scene, the cutest they come.

I'm like, look up and see if anyone's got that on Spotify or app.

No one had the title.

That doesn't mean that somewhere someplace, someone didn't write it, but no one's put it out.

And so I immediately brought that to that writer and she was like, Oh, I love that.

She's like, we're going to write that right now.

And it was one of those rights where we sat down and I fed her all the ideas of page and like what we've been through and what we're doing.

And we wrote this song in two hours flat.

It was incredible.

It was one of my favorite rights.

And like, you could tell that woman knows how.

to write music.

This is what I love about the story.

You make an innocent comment to your fiancee and then right away as she's taking in that moment you're like

Dang that'd be a good song.

It happens all the time and inspiration strikes in like I've learned over the years that when it does write it down don't forget it because there's been songs that have hit me in the middle of the night like songs that I've been working on that the way that it's supposed to be written hit me in the middle of the night and then I forgot to write it down like I'm too tired I'm just like I'll remember it and then I wake up in the morning and I can't and then I hope usually a few nights later it'll come back but I've learned the hard way I'm like just write it down right now.

You get to be this age, my friend.

You better write it

down.

I'm right

behind you, brother.

You're not remembering anything.

General Manager of the Cattle Congress, Mark Little, driving you around in the Dan Deere courtesy vehicle.

Yeah, thank you, Deere.

Deere, I appreciate

you

guys.

All right, I gotta ask you, horses in Ohio, let's hear a little.

All

right, you got me, you got me.

So this one I wrote about a guy by the name of Art Post Alweight and he was a fella from my hometown that was as close as my hometown area is ever gonna come to a rodeo star and he had a traveling rodeo that he took around and of course he ran other people's traveling rodeos and any chance he got he gave me the opportunity to perform at those rodeos and that's one of the places that I got my main start and he passed away last year and as we talked earlier you know I wrote a

this song about him with a couple of my favorite writers over in Nashville.

Ryan Robinette, if y'all are listening, check him out.

And a group by the name of the heels from Canada.

And I was writing with them and we came up with The Horses in Ohio.

And it's been a very special song.

You know, Art's name is in the tune.

You'll hear a couple of little Easter eggs in there, but this one's called Horses in Ohio.

Wild with shows in long work days No fear of the fall In the heart of it all When the man upstairs gave him the call If Heaven's got a rodeo God knows he's still in the show Guernsey County cowboy in the sky

Breaking Broncos like an art Saddled up in stripes and stars Ain't had his last ride He's still running wild With his horses in Ohio Horses in Ohio Yeah, yeah With his horses in Ohio

That dropped today on Spotify, iTunes, wherever you get your music.

Horses in Ohio.

It's Adam Calvert.

Freedom Feels Like That is the tour and the stop tonight and tomorrow.

National Cattle Congress Fair in Waterloo.

He plays in the Pavilion.

Again, that's the location where we have our events and it's free with your gated mission.

NationalCattleCongress.com is the website.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come in.

Fun conversation and long time listeners.

of the radio station will remember before we talked for a living.

This was where you got great American country right around the corner.

You'll see the banner where we had a had a boot.

The K for KXEL was a boot.

That's how country we were.

So I love the fact that we we've brought it around again.

AdamCalvertMusic.com

Thanks so much for coming in.

Have a great weekend in Waterloo.

Thank you for taking the time for having me on the folks that are listening.

Please come out and see the show.

I'll make sure I do a meet and greet after the show for everybody, a general meet and greet.

You don't have to win anything.

You don't have to buy anything.

We'll shake hands with every person to down to the last person.

And also I'm going to be around and about through the town, checking out some local businesses such as embark coffee, the savvy bean coffee, scratch cup, bakery and switch nutrition.

These folks is offered to let me come into their small business and check out some of their stuff.

So if you see.

out and about in the town of Waterloo.

Don't be afraid to stop me.

I'm a people person.

I'd love to shake their hand and hug their neck and get to know them.

Every one of those is a food and drink place.

I see a theme.

I see a theme about

this.

I'm gonna put a couple pounds on today, but I'll work it off

by showtime, hopefully.

That is the plan.

Adam Calvert, adamcalvertmusic.com.

Thanks again for coming in.

He joined us live in the studio.

National Cattle Congress tonight and tomorrow from News Talk 1540, KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.

News Talk 1540, KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.

Hello, I'm Jeff Stein and I'm joined on the news line by Craig Stadmiller.

He is the CEO of Camp Courageous, that wonderful facility near Monticello.

CampCourageous.org of course is the website.

He's a return guest to the program.

Craig, thanks so much for taking the time.

Jeff, thank you so much for having me.

It's a pleasure to be on today.

Folks listening to this conversation, no doubt already know, but I'll let you inform folks who may not be aware.

Camp Courageous, who are you folks and what do you do?

Yeah, here at Camp Courageous, we offer year-round respite, travel, and recreational programs for individuals with disabilities.

So we have a campus of 400 acres.

35 buildings.

We have zip lines.

We have trains to scale that people can ride.

We have an indoor pool, a lodge.

We just have an enormous amount of things that we can offer.

campers and individual disabilities.

And so they come out here, they have a great time during our week-long camps during the summer and in the fall.

We're currently during a week-long camp and we do weekend respites, the occasional emergency respite for those families who have that need.

And we just had a group of travel program campers come back from a Disney cruise.

Oh, that had to be great fun.

How many went?

And then I have to ask, how many folks did you have?

as chaperones, volunteers or staff members because that's something we often don't think about.

Yeah, that's great.

You know, a Disney cruise is something that campers and of course our volunteers really enjoy going on.

So we had 15 campers and we had four volunteers.

Wow.

that is something and again volunteers are so important to the effort of camp because as we know for more than a half century camp has been around but you don't rely on government dollars.

That's correct Jeff we don't take any government funding we don't have formal sponsorship in the terms of like corporate sponsorship and you know we've never turned a camper away because of financial reasons so when campers come to us

If finances are a challenge, we overcome that barrier.

And in fact, actually it's our donors and our partners and our volunteers that help us overcome that barrier because every camper that comes to Camp Courage actually benefits from donations.

We only charge less than a third of our cost.

So every camper that comes benefits from those donors and those partners that we have.

CampCourageous.org is the website.

That's where you get all the information you need on an ongoing basis.

But we wanted to talk to Craig right now because this coming Sunday, September 27th, is one of the great annual events that let you learn much more about camp.

It's the Waffle Breakfast and Open House.