The Des Moines Register

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Ia., said Friday that he is heading to the Texas-Mexico border this weekend to assess the current immigration crisis.

He will be joined by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

They will visit the areas of Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo, meeting with the Border Patrol and local officials. King has been a critic of federal immigration policy and has called for toughening border security.

— William Petroski

King silent about Export-Import Bank

Jim Mowrer, the Democrat facing Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King in Iowa's 4th Congressional District, challenged the incumbent last week to take a side in a simmering congressional fight over the Export-Import Bank.

The federal agency aids businesses in exporting goods abroad and faces closure later this year unless Congress acts to reauthorize it.

Mowrer, of Boone, supports the bank and the almost $90 million in aid it has provided on export sales of more than $164 million from the 4th District between 2007 and 2014.

"The Ex-Im Bank is supported by business organizations across the political spectrum," Mowrer wrote in a letter to King last week. "Let's agree to put the politics aside and do what is right for Northwest Iowa. I would ask that you would join me in publicly pledging to support this program that supports small- and medium-sized businesses right here at home."

Whether or not to reauthorize the bank has become a divisive issue among congressional Republicans. Business-friendly lawmakers support it, and more conservative tea-party-aligned members oppose it.

National business lobbying organizations have pleaded with lawmakers to continue the bank, as have almost 30 state governors.

King has previously voted against reauthorizing the bank. King's office did not respond to Mowrer's letter or to a Des Moines Register query on his position on reauthorization.

— Jason Noble

Grassley: We should cite whistle-blowers

Some of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's favorite people are government whistle-blowers.

He says he would love to have a signal from the White House that they should be honored in their efforts to provide honesty and accountability to the federal government, but that hasn't been a priority for a string of presidents.

Grassley, a Republican, told Iowa reporters last week that going back to President Ronald Reagan, he has suggested without success to presidents that they hold an annual Rose Garden ceremony to recognize whistle-blowers.

"It will probably never be done, but I am not giving up on it," he said.

— William Petroski

Whitaker likes Perry, but not picking yet

Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker was the state co-chair of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign in the run-up to the 2012 Iowa caucuses. But right now he's a free agent for the 2016 presidential race.

Whitaker, who recently ran unsuccessfully for the Iowa Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate, says Perry "did wonderful things for me" in his Senate campaign, and he still considers Perry a great guy.

But Whitaker says he's leaving his options open now because it's not clear who's running — although Perry has certainly looked like a 2016 candidate by repeatedly visiting Iowa.

— William Petroski

Harkin, Branstad share stage for ADA

Two dozen years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin and Republican Gov. Terry Branstad sat next to each other on stage at Drake University on Friday.

Harkin complimented Branstad for his administration's efforts toward better job opportunities for people with disabilities. Branstad reinforced Harkin's points about the productivity and reliability of workers with disabilities.

Ms. Wheelchair Iowa, Michele Meadors, effusively thanked both Harkin and Branstad. "These guys have paved the most amazing groundwork for somebody like me, to be a person with disabilities. To make this nation realize, I'm a person, just like anybody else, and I have those rights," she said.

The landmark 1990 civil rights legislation for people in the United States with disabilities was authored by Harkin.

— Kathie Obradovich