Rep. Rod Blum hears trade, disaster assistance concerns on Habitat for Humanity tour

CEDAR RAPIDS - U.S. Rep. Rod Blum toured a Habitat for Humanity building site Wednesday where he heard concerns about trade and disaster relief for Iowa and made a pitch for his criminal justice reform legislation.

Blum, a Dubuque Republican running for a third term, toured a house under construction in the historic Wellington Heights neighborhood in southeast Cedar Rapids.

'Is this new or a rehab?” Blum asked when he arrived.

'That's the supreme compliment,” Cedar Valley Habitat Executive Director Jeff Capps said.

Inside, Blum talked with Whirlpool employees volunteering on the project and heard their concerns about how the trade situation is affecting the Amana appliance manufacturer.

'Could be better,” Chancey Farmer told Blum when he asked if the factory was busy.

Blum understands that concern. For the most part, he said, factory workers he talks with appreciate that 'someone is finally fighting for American workers and American jobs.”

'We've been taken advantage of for the past 15, 20 years in these trade agreements,” Blum said.

Blum said he plans to meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials next week as part of an effort to persuade them to reverse the agency's denial of federal disaster assistance in Iowa. Gov. Kim Reynolds is appealing the decision.

Funds for repairs and replacement of public infrastructure were approved, but FEMA rejected Iowa's application for the Individual Assistance Grant Program that provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food and temporary housing expenses.

'I want to sit down in front of FEMA next week and tell them what I think of that,” Blum said. 'We're going to go fight for it. Marshalltown deserves that.”

When Kapps pointed out a child's rocking chair made by Prison Industries at the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison and noted that Habitat uses prisoner-built cabinets in some projects, Blum talked about the importance of teaching skills to prisoners to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.

He recently introduced the Clean Slate Act to provide a second chance to reformed individuals convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and other nonviolent offenses who face lifelong barriers to employment, housing and education.

Nonviolent offenders who have paid their debt to society could petition to have their records sealed, Blum said.

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