Hinson holds town hall meeting in Mason City — click here for full audio of event

MASON CITY — About 150 people attended a town hall meeting at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City this morning with north-central Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson. The Republican from Marion answered a number of questions from those who attended.

When asked about national security and the flap last month over a group chat on the app Signal involving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in which plans for an airstrike on Yemen were discussed, Hinson says it’s important to make sure classified information remains secure.   “It’s my understanding that nothing that was actually classified was communicated in those chats. What I do think is important though is that we make sure that we make sure that no classified information is actually being communicated on non-classified channels. So that is where Congress’ role is in making sure we’re protecting the integrity.”

Hinson defended the Department of Government Efficiency cuts to a number of programs due to the country’s $36 trillion debt.  “You know, $10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique, or $20 million for Arab Sesame Street? Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East? I mean, come on, do you think we should be funding Sesame Street in the Middle East, or should we be funding priorities for the American people? That’s what I think, so I’m focused on making sure we continue to reel in that growth of government, we restore as much power to the American people as we can.”

Hinson drew crowd reaction when addressing the immigration situation in the United States.  “This is the number one issue that I heard about on the campaign trail last cycle from my constituents. Securing the border is critical to national security. We need to start deporting illegal aliens with criminal track records, and we need to disincentivize illegal immigration, leading to record low border crossings. I am so proud that we are at that point where we have record-low border crossings. Again, as the president said, we didn’t need a new law to do that, we just needed a new president.”

Hinson also addressed questions about the Farm Bill, Medicaid, and healthcare during the hour-long forum.

You can listen back to today’s event by clicking on the audio player below