Seniors Group Recognizes Braley for his Commitment to Keeping "Health Care Affordable and Retirement Secure"
Des Moines, IA -Bruce Braley today received the endorsement from the Alliance for Retired Americans for his unwavering commitment to protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security at events in Davenport and Cedar Rapids. The Alliance for Retired Americans represents over 4.2 million retirees and community activists, including more than 30,000 members in Iowa.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Alliance for Retired Americans, and to fight every day to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security for current and future generations of Iowans," Braley said. "Iowans have worked hard and paid into these important programs their entire lives, and I refuse to let their earned retirement security be threatened by risky privatization schemes. As a U.S. Senator, I will never waver in my commitment to keeping our promises to our seniors."

"Bruce Braley is a champion for Iowa's seniors and can be trusted to stand up for our interests. He is committed to keeping health care affordable and retirement secure, while fighting against efforts to privatize Social Security and end Medicare as we know it.  We are proud to endorse Bruce Braley for U.S. Senate," said Jan Laue, president of the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 530,000 Iowans were enrolled in Medicare in 2012. TheNational Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare calculates that Iowa has more than 584,000 Social Security beneficiaries, with the average senior receiving a monthly benefit of $1,131.

Braley has strongly opposed efforts to privatize Social Security and transform Medicare into a voucher program. Braley has also opposed efforts to reduce future Social Security benefits for retirees if cost-of-living increases were shifted to a so-called "chained CPI" calculation. This month, Braley successfully led a charge to prevent a cut to important services at Iowa Social Security offices.  

In contrast, State Sen. Joni Ernst has called for privatization of Social Security, a position that would undermine benefits for current retirees, and supports tying retiree benefits to the Stock Market. Sen. Ernst has also supported plans that would transform Medicare as we know it and pave the way for Medicare vouchers, increasing costs for retirees.
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Braley working across party lines to stand up for Iowa's economy and protect more than 70,000 Iowa jobs
Des Moines, IA - Iowans know they can trust Bruce Braley to represent their interests as their next U.S. Senator because no matter how much special interest money is spent, or whether he's examining a Republican idea or a Democrat idea, he always puts Iowa first. Nowhere is this more evident than in Braley's strong record of working across party lines to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the more than 70,000 jobs the biofuels industry helps support in Iowa.

That's why he has been a leader in fighting back against the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since it proposed rolling back the RFS last November, giving an unfair advantage to big oil while undermining Iowa's energy industry.

Braley is joined in his efforts by bipartisan legislators who understand that the RFS not only promotes job growth in Iowa and across the nation, but also bolsters innovation that helps the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil and achieve greater energy independence. As Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) wrote in today's Des Moines Register, "Pure and simple, the RFS is good for America's energy, environmental and economic stability."

Watch Braley speak on the importance of the RFS and his work to protect Iowa jobs here:


DES MOINES, IA - Bruce Braley released the following statement after Republicans in the US Senate voted to block legislation that would have reversed the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision:

"I am immensely disappointed that today Senate Republicans blocked efforts to restore a woman's ability to access contraception after the Supreme Court's harmful Hobby Lobby decision. Women in Iowa deserve equal access to health care, and their ability to purchase contraception should never be subject to interference from their employers. I strongly believe women in Iowa should be able to make their own health care choices without their bosses' interference, and I would fight tirelessly to protect women's health care rights in the U.S Senate."

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