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First Week in Congress: "Like Drinking Out of a Hose"

Young of Iowa
Rep. David Young (R-IA) represents most of southwest Iowa in the U.S. House of Represenatives.

Iowa Congressman David Young says his first week in Congress was extremely busy.

This is Young's first year as an elected official.   However the House freshman worked 17 years in Washington as a Congressional staffer, including many years as Sen. Chuck Grassley’s chief of staff.  Now Young represents Iowa's 3rd District, which covers much of southwest Iowa.

Young says relationships he’s built over the years as a staffer helped him land a spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

"Before I was with Sen. Grassley, I was with Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky," Young says. "It just so happens the chair of the House Appropriations Committee is from Kentucky, Chairman Hal Rogers, I knew him and his staff so that was helpful as well."

 

Young’s predecessor, Rep. Tom Latham, also sat on House Appropriations.   s well. Young says Latham’s voice also helped him land his seat on the committee.

 

Regarding tomorrow's State of the Union address, Young will attend with Iowa's 2nd District Congressman Dave Loebsack.

 

"I'll sit with him and we'll listen to the president, I want to hear him (President Obama) talk about understanding what November 4 was about," Young says. "It's time to govern, it's time to come together, it's time to do the will of the people and the people's priorities."

 

Iowa’s junior senator, Joni Ernst, will deliver the GOP’s response to the State of the Union. The State of the Union rebuttal is often given by a rising star of the party.