Stories

While speaking to Cedar County Democrats Saturday night, Congressman Dave Loebsack said that he’s made progress on campaign promises and that he’s proud of the accomplishments made by Congress thus far in Washington.
“I personally ran on one theme,” he said. “That was restoring hope and opportunity that George Bush and the Congress of the United [...]

If you did not know that all flags in the state were to be blown at half staff on Saturday, you are not alone. I also am guilty of not knowing that Gov. Chet Culver had issued an executive order in honor of Army Sergeant Joseph Milledge, 23, a native of Glenwood who died on [...]

The adage goes: There’s the right way, the wrong way and the Army way. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, intends to find out which way the Army took when it shortchanged thousands of National Guard soldiers on their GI Bill educational benefits, including over 600 members of the Iowa National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, based [...]

For many combat veterans returning from war, the battle doesn’t end on the battlefield. It continues at home with the mental scars. As soldiers return from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, many are ill-equipped to deal with emotional issues stemming from deployment, and sensing no other way out, they tragically take their own lives.

Congress, led [...]

The last thing Iowa’s National Guard and reserve soldiers need to worry about while deployed to war is whether or not they’ll have a job when they return to their civilian lives. Knowing this, the federal government passed USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act) in 1994 to help protect the soldiers’ jobs, and [...]

While the front-end costs of funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan hold steady, the Bush administration keeps finding ways to skim costs on the back end. Using a cost-cutting technique perfected by the booming temporary-worker industry, the Bush administration has not only exhausted the National Guard to supplement the surge in Iraq but has [...]

Iraq war veteran and Purple Heart recipient Iowa Rep. Ray Zirkelbach has endorsed Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd for president. He cited Dodd’s clarity and leadership on working to end the war and his record for results for bringing real change to America.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama outlined his plan for utilizing the National Guard responsibly, his comments coming on a visit to one of the poorest sections of Waterloo Thursday.
Introduced by a local Army reservist and speaking to an audience of roughly 300 people at the Boys and Girls Club, the Democratic presidential hopeful centered his remarks [...]

The dark blue signs on the hotel wall read “Fred Thompson.” The stickers peppered on suit jackets and light sweaters and the marquee outside read the same. The introduction by the local county chairman was for Fred Thompson. Despite all of this, however, today’s political show in Dubuque was owned by children — especially the [...]

Inspired by the Iowa National Guard’s 133rd Infantry Battalion, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, authored a measure that will increase support for families of those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The provision, first introduced as the “Coming Together for Guard and Reserve Families Act,” works to strengthen the family assistance program and ensures adequate resources for [...]