by Senator Tom Harkin

Earlier this month, tornadoes wreaked havoc is multiple Midwestern states. Most notably, small towns in Indiana, Kansas, and Kentucky were hit by monstrous storms that caused severe destruction. Seeing the aftermath of these storms, I was reminded of the risks that tornadoes and severe weather pose to small towns.

In 1993, I was chief sponsor of legislation greatly broadening what is now called the Federal Emergency Managements Agency's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The program and its more recent modifications have provided significant funding to states to undertake risk mitigation projects that help protect communities from future natural disasters. These investments help to improve the structural integrity of key infrastructure and buildings to enhance safety and reduce costly repairs that result from destructive storms, like flooding and high winds from tornadoes.

Knowing how to protect yourself and your family, however, during a storm is an absolute necessity. With the unusually warm and mild winter and an increase in severe storms already this spring, dangerous weather could hit Iowa earlier than normal.

Always remember that the safest place to be is in an underground shelter, basement or safe room. If no underground shelter or safe room is available, a small, windowless interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building is the safest alternative.

Here are some further safety tips that can help to keep you and your family safe, provided by the National Weather Service:
• Go to the nearest sturdy building or shelter immediately.
• Do not wait until you see the tornado. If you are caught outdoors and cannot make it to a shelter, seek secure cover in a basement, shelter, or sturdy building.

If flying debris occurs while you are driving: pull over, park, and follow these instructions:
• Stay in the car with the seat belt on. Put your head down below the windows, covering it with your hands and a blanket if possible.
• If you can safely get lower than the level of the roadway, exit your car and lie in that area, covering your head with your hands.

Regarding mobile homes:
• Mobile homes are not safe during tornadoes or other severe winds.
• Do not seek shelter in a hallway or bathroom of a mobile home.
• If you have access to a sturdy shelter or a vehicle, abandon your mobile home immediately.

With these tips, I hope you all stay safe and secure whenever a storm is near.

For more information on safety during a severe storm, please visit the national weather service at www.weather.gov, my website at www.harkin.senate.gov, or feel free to call any of my offices in Iowa or Washington, D.C.

A PDF version of the column is available by clicking here.

by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

With spring just around the corner, many Iowans look forward to seasonal rites of passage this time of year.  Farmers are itching to get in the fields. Home gardeners anticipate the first shoots of peas and lettuce.  Spring cleaning tops the to-do list for many families.  School students give thanks for Spring Break.  And, soon-to-be-college graduates have their sights set on landing a job.

It's no secret the Class of 2012 needs to break into a job market struggling to rebound from Wall Street's financial meltdown and mortgage industry mess.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate is idling at 8.3 percent. This year's crop of graduates also will be competing with more than five million jobless Americans who have been looking for work for longer than six months.

Yet, the Obama administration has proposed federal rules to "attract and retain highly skilled immigrants" that arguably increase the competition for Americans who are looking for work.

Is this really the administration's idea of priming the employment pump?

In Iowa, civic and business leaders work together in their communities to grease the wheels for economic development.  From Council Bluffs to Keokuk, local economic development leaders search for ways to attract and keep businesses.  They go to bat for their towns because they know their labor pool is ready and willing to work.

So, flooding the employment market with foreign workers, when high-skilled Americans are seeking jobs at unprecedented levels, just doesn't square with improving the home team advantage, let alone fostering a level playing field.

From my leadership position on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, I have championed reforms to the nation's immigration and visa laws to better protect the pool of highly-skilled, unemployed U.S. workers and graduates who struggle to find good-paying jobs here at home.

For example, the H1-B visa program was created in 1990 as a temporary measure to help companies in America find high-technology workers -- assuming specialized workers aren't available in the United States to fill these jobs.  After more than two decades on the books, the program needs better controls and stronger oversight that will prevent qualified American workers from being passed over for good-paying jobs.

That's why over the last several years I've introduced an H-1B visa reform bill that would require a good faith recruitment of American workers by all companies seeking to bring in foreign workers, change the wage requirements to ensure that visa holders are not undercutting American workers, give more authority to the Department of Labor to investigate allegations of fraud, prohibit employers from advertising only to H-1B visa holders, and increase penalties for those who violate the terms of the H-1B visa program.

Working with Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, I've also urged the administration to formally adopt the standards set by the U.S. Department of State and the Administrative Appeals Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when adjudicating L-1B visas (a visa that allows employers to transfer its existing workers to the U.S. if they have "specialized" or "advanced" knowledge of the company).  Unfortunately, the Obama administration is considering changes to the L-1B visa program that could water down these standards and allow the L-1B visa program to be used as a back door to evade restrictions of the H-1B visa program, putting American workers at a disadvantage.

Out-of-work Americans and graduates of the Class of 2012 have enough hurdles to overcome.  The nation's visa system should not undermine their chances of landing a good-paying job.

March 19, 2012

By John Crabtree, johnc@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs

House and Senate Agriculture Committees are already holding hearings on writing a new farm bill. However, past farm bills demonstrate that we must demand more of Congress, we must demand a farm bill that invests in the future of rural communities and the next generation of family farmers and ranchers.

On March 19th the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Center for Rural Affairs released a 2012 Farm Bill policy platform entitled Farming for the Future, A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2012 Food and Farm Bill.

It includes proposals to strengthen family farming and ranching, and assist beginning farmers and ranchers. These policies, if advanced, will help smaller producers tap into high-value, niche markets; provide access to land and capital for the next generation of farmers and ranchers; level the playing field by capping subsidies to mega-farms and invest in real family farmers and ranchers.

The entire platform spans nearly every section of the farm bill and constitutes a comprehensive approach to reforming federal farm and food policies that will create jobs and economic growth, drive innovation for farm and food entrepreneurs, enhance conservation, protect our natural resources and invest in the future of rural America.

We cannot continue to follow the failed farm policies of the past. Rural America wants, needs and deserves a better farm bill, one that creates a future for America's rural places and the people that live there. Farming for the Future contains a best first step at making reform a reality.