Braley’s comment out of touch with Iowa

'I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals and other branches of a husbandman's cares.'

Apparently, Bruce Braley, who represents a congressional district in the country's No. 3 agricultural state — and who's running for one of Iowa's U.S. Senate seats — doesn't agree with George Washington.

His recent remarks about Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, not only disparaged the good senator but Iowa's and the nation's hardworking farmers.

As a farmer, I resent Braley's comments and I take issue with his lack of support for public policies that would benefit farmers in Iowa and throughout the United States. His opposition to free trade agreements that would increase U.S. agricultural exports, for example, is baffling and shows he's clearly out of touch with those he's supposed to represent in Washington.

Laurie Hueneke Martens

Bellevue