Joni Ernst

Our fighters would be nowhere if they didn't have the support coming from folks like those that served with me.

Growing up, I had only one good pair of shoes. So on rainy school days, my mom would slip plastic bread bags over them to keep them dry. But I was never embarrassed. Because the school bus would be filled with rows and rows of young Iowans with bread bags slipped over their feet.

It's not enough to be a woman. You have to care about women's issues. And women's issues here in Iowa are that we have a strong economy. We have jobs that our sons and daughters can go off to someday. We have a great educational system. And women want strong national defense. We want to know that our families are going to be safe.

I am a woman and, second, I have been to war. I am a combat veteran. This is not a war on women, and anytime Democrats use the word 'war,' they need to do it to honor our servicemen and women.

I am deeply concerned for the safety of our people brought by a lack of a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIL.

The push for 'Meatless Mondays' in our military is misguided at best and goes against dietary guidelines. Our men and women in uniform should have the option to consume the protein they need, including meat, on a daily basis.

In the fields of southwest Iowa, my parents and grandparents worked and sacrificed. Like so many Iowans, the American Dream for them was never about wealth or fame. Their dream was to leave their children and grandchildren a better life, with greater opportunity, than their own.

You have to be committed to expand rights and opportunities for all women.

I have a beautiful little Smith & Wesson, 9 millimeter, and it goes with me virtually everywhere. But I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family - whether it's from an intruder or whether it's from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.

I am very proud of my service, and by law, I am defined as a combat veteran.

We have to have somebody that will express conservative views, of course, and I'm looking for somebody that is very Reaganesque. Someone that can reach all aspects of our voting population here in America.

It was only by luck and the blessings of God that my soldiers did not encounter an assault, that we did not run over an IED. And to dishonor our service by saying we're not worthy of being called combat veterans is insulting to the majority of men and women who serve their country honorably.