Iowa U.S. Senate candidates address African-Americans’ concerns

WATERLOO - How to address the root causes that led to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement was not only the first question posed to U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Saturday in Waterloo, but it also set the tone for the remainder of the debate.

Three of the four Democratic candidates who are vying in the primary to take on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, met in Waterloo for an opportunity to address the concerns of the African-American community.

'Black lives matter. Period,” said Rob Hogg, an Iowa state senator from Cedar Rapids who entered the U.S. Senate race in September. 'My fundamental belief is that America is a better and stronger country because of our racial and our religious diversity.”

Hogg, bankruptcy lawyer Tom Fiegen and veterans advocate Bob Krause met for 90 minutes at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, the fourth contender in the primary, had another commitment in Des Moines on Saturday.

Hogg noted work done at the state level to address minority issues, including support for criminal justice reform and ban-the-box legislation that would remove questions about a person's criminal history from an initial application.

Hogg and Fiegen pointed to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as a person who divides people and a reason Democrats need to be successful.

'People start to think of us versus them, and we're seeing some political discourse from people running, particularly from Donald Trump, on us versus them,” Fiegen said. 'I think we've got to talk about this as all of us, as a part of one community.”

Fiegen also suggested police training and reduced reliance on military equipment as a way to make law enforcement more about public safety.

Krause pointed to his efforts during his tenure as a Waterloo school board member to increase representation of east-side residents on the board as a way of showing his support for giving African-Americans a voice in government.

The candidates didn't shy from criticism of Grassley, particularly on issues of criminal justice and campaign finance reform.

On criminal justice issues, Hogg reminded the two dozen people in the audience that while Grassley has been working on a criminal justice reform bill this year, there has been little movement forward.

'You've been in Congress for 42 years and are unable to get something passed, it calls into question, to me, can you still get the job done anymore?” Hogg said, adding that he's heard the legislation that has been proposed is 'relatively weak.”

Krause and Fiegen said they would like to see marijuana reduced from a Schedule I drug, so that there would be fewer penalties for those caught with the drug.

Fiegen and Hogg stressed they wanted to see substance abuse treated as a public health issue, rather than a criminal justice one.

On campaign finance reform, Fiegen and Krause noted they were not taking money from political action committees. Fiegen said he had in the past and noticed how loyalties were divided between constituents and donors.

Krause and Hogg also drew a link between campaign finance reform and the current fight to replace former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

'He (Grassley) is the fellow that wants to stop the repeal of Citizens United by the Supreme Court by stopping the nomination of Judge (Merrick) Garland. He wants to retain that control,” Krause said.

Hogg said he has received a PAC donation from the state's largest public sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and was glad to get it.

Hogg stressed that he supports overturning the Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United that opened the doors to increased campaign spending.

Democratic candidates are expected to meet Wednesday for one more debate. The primary election is June 7, and early voting is underway.