By Darwin Manning 

manningd@grinnell.edu

Bruce Braley, the US Representative for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, serving since 2007 and representing much of Northeastern Iowa, will be taking a two-day trip to visit several colleges and universities across Iowa. The goal of the trip is to give his young constituency the chance to express their views regarding several issues around higher education in an open forum setting.
Braley will conclude his four stop campus tour today. The forum this afternoon will take place at 4:15 p.m. in JRC 101. It will give Braley the opportunity to moderate an open discussion with students, faculty and administrators on college affordability, student financial aid and employability after graduation. Although a member of several Congressional Committees including the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform, he will use this setting to cover a topic important to almost every college student.
“I’m traveling across eastern Iowa to listen to students and educators about these challenges and to hear their suggestions for how to address them,” said Braley from a press release received by email.
He will be giving some feedback to questions posed and stating some of his most recent work, but ultimately this will truly be an open dialogue.
From the Campus and community’s perspective this is an opportunity to address some of the fundamental issues facing college students, as well as hear his take on some other controversial subjects.
“I want to hear him speak, hear what he has to say about recently coming out against SOPA,” said Campus Democrats member Joe Engleman ’14. “Basically fighting the good fight, getting jobs going, helping the economy here.”
By attending this forum, students will have the chance to ask questions supply Braley with some authentic constituent feedback.