D.C. Dispatch: Iowa delegation moves on IVF, foreign farmland purchases
As Congress reconvened this week, access to in-vitro fertilization has come up again as a top issue for lawmakers in the weeks leading up to the 2024 general election.
The U.S. Senate will vote again on legislation bolstering access to IVF treatments next week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday. The measure lost in a June 48-47 procedural vote with most senators voting along party lines. Iowa’s U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Republicans, voted against the measure in June.
The issue of ensuring IVF access has come up repeatedly at the state and federal level in 2024, following the Alabama Supreme Court decision in February that frozen embryos are considered children under a 2018 state constitutional amendment that required the state to “ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child.”
Alabama IVF providers halted services due to the court decision. While some health care providers in the state resumed the fertility treatment services after the state legislature passed a measure to protect IVF access, others say there is still uncertainty about the future of IVF access.
Democrats in multiple states, including Iowa, have said state anti-abortion laws and “unborn personhood” language approved following the overturn of Roe v. Wade threaten the availability of IVF treatment across the country. However, many Republicans who support restrictions on abortion say that they support IVF access and that regulations on the two health care treatments are not related.
Miller-Meeks proposes IVF tax credit
In the House, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, introduced legislation this week that would provide a tax credit promoting access to in-vitro fertilization. The fully refundable tax credit of up to $30,000 would provide individuals and families pursuing IVF treatments with needed financial relief, Miller-Meeks said in a news release.
A single IVF cycle — involving procedures including egg retrieval and embryo transfer — typically cost between $15,000 and $30,000, according to reporting by Forbes.
“Every life is precious, and we have a moral imperative to support those who wish to become parents,” Miller-Meeks said in a statement. “By providing financial assistance through this refundable tax credit, we are not only making IVF more accessible but also empowering individuals and families to realize their dreams of parenthood. This bill is a commitment to supporting life and the choices of families across our nation.”
Grassley, Ernst support bill calling for more oversight of foreign land purchases
Iowa’s U.S. senators both released messages of support for a bill they say would “increase scrutiny” on foreign purchases of U.S. farmland — particularly from purchasers in adversarial countries like China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran.
Grassley was one of the cosponsors who introduced the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 on Tuesday, a measure that would add the U.S. secretary of agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when dealing with transactions involving U.S. agricultural land, agricultural biotech, and the transportation, storage, and processing of agricultural products.
It would also give the agriculture secretary the authority to report agricultural land transactions that involve foreign persons from adversarial countries and transactions covered by the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to the committee.
The CFIUS, an interagency committee chaired by the U.S. secretary of the treasury with members from several federal executive departments and agencies, oversees transactions involving U.S. real estate and foreign investments into the U.S. for potential national security threats.
Adding the secretary of agriculture to the committee would help ensure security for the country’s agricultural supply chain, in addition to bringing attention to national security threats through U.S. foreign farmland ownership, Grassley said in a news release.
“When adversarial foreign governments buy up U.S. farmland, it undermines economic opportunities for families across America’s Heartland and presents obvious national security threats,” Grassley said in a statement. “The federal government’s number one job is to protect its citizens. Our legislation would support that fundamental responsibility by taking commonsense actions to address current vulnerabilities.”
Ernst released a statement in support of the measure on Wednesday, saying the secretary of agriculture’s addition to the committee would add “much-needed oversight to the process” of reviewing farmland purchases by foreign adversaries.
“Foreign acquisition of our precious agricultural land, especially by our adversaries, threatens the integrity of our food supply and the security of our nation,” Ernst said in a statement. “Giving the agriculture community oversight in land ownership is a commonsense measure that sends a strong message to malign actors. There is nothing more foundational to our nation’s independence, safety, and security than protecting our food supply from foreign influence.”
Republican state leaders in Iowa have also taken action on foreign farmland ownership. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a state law in 2024 related to foreign land ownership in Iowa. The measure, advocated for by the governor, granted the state attorney general more oversight powers on the issue, allowing the AG to subpoena foreign landowners for financial records and land purchase agreements for investigations into potential violations of laws on foreign farmland ownership.
Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa helped introduced the House version of the bill alongside Washington Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse. Hinson spoke Wednesday on the House floor about how the measure would help “protect our food supply from foreign adversaries like Communist China.”
“China continues to buy up American farmland at an alarming rate,” Hinson said. “They’re aiming to gain control over our food and fuel supply chains, stealing American intellectual property, and strategically purchasing land next to sensitive sites. … In Iowa, our land is sacred. Iowa farmers feed and fuel the world. We cannot allow the CCP to continue buying up our most valuable resource.”