Blum: Congress should ‘be bold’ in next session

WATERLOO - Rep. Rod Blum sums up his first year in Congress with three simple words: Honored, humbled and frustrated.

'Being in Congress is like being in the greatest university in the world, because you have the opportunity to learn so many things. … It's just amazing. I've learned so much,” Blum said in one breath.

Then, he added, 'We need to reform Congress. I mean, I thought it was bad. It's worse than I thought.”

That frustration stemmed from former House Speaker John Boehner's leadership.

'When I got back from the August recess to Washington, I said, ‘You know, if this were a company, I would have quit.' In August. Because it's so top-down,” Blum said.

Blum said successes for the year include passage of a long-term transportation bill and an education bill that replaces No Child Left Behind. His laundry list includes welfare reform; tax reform, particularly corporate taxes; an alternative to the federal health care law known as Obamacare; and securing the border.

Those will be tough in an election year, but Blum said Congress should try.

'Why not, right? I think we should be bold. Be bold. Have some political courage,” Blum said.

But his favorite part of the job is volunteering to do other people's jobs in Northeast Iowa. He's done about eight different jobs so far, including waiting tables, bagging groceries and delivering mail.

On a recent daylong trip through the Cedar Valley, Blum stopped to talk to just about everyone.

Upon meeting an Iowa State student studying criminal justice, Blum rattled off what he'd learned on a recent visit to Anamosa State Penitentiary. While volunteering at the food bank, he'd race his fellow food packers and note how much slower he was than the women alongside him.

Blum also got feedback on legislation throughout the day. Barb Prather, executive director of the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, told him on the omnibus bill, 'I get why you voted against it, but I wanted you to know it helped us.”

That interaction is emblematic of what Blum has seen in his first year in Congress.

'People back here are genuine … even if they don't agree with you, for the most part, they do it politely. They do it respectfully, and wow, what a contrast to Washington,” Blum said. 'It's been an interesting go of it. It's been a wild ride, really.”