WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2015 – Freshman Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst will give the Republican response to President Obama’s state of the union address next Tuesday.
“Americans voted for change and Sen. Ernst will explain what the new Congress plans to do and what it is already doing to return Washington’s focus to the concerns of the middle class and away form the demands of the political class,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said at the Republican congressional retreat in Hershey, Pa.
McConnell’s announcement came at a leadership press briefing with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Ernst, who accompanied the two GOP leaders, said she was “truly humbled and honored” to be selected to give the address, citing her Iowa farm roots.
“It is a long way from Red Oak (Iowa) to Washington, D.C., and growing up on a southwest Iowa farm years ago, I never, never would have imagined that I would have this opportunity,” she said, referring to her hometown.
“Our folks back home sent us to Washington, D.C., with a clear mission and that mission is to get to work," she said. "That mission is to craft and implement good policies, good solutions, which will enable us to get America on a better path.”
