Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks won 2024 elections by roughly 600 votes and is now representing Iowa's 1st Congressional District. She, however, has a record marred by inconsistencies, broken promises, and actions that betray the trust of her constituents. This article delves into her political flip-flops, unfulfilled commitments, questionable associations, and her harmful rhetoric against marginalized communities.
All about Miller-Meeks
Mariannette Miller-Meeks is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. A former ophthalmologist and military veteran, she got her first office in the Iowa Department of Public Health from 2011 to 2014. Her next office served Iowa’s senate from the 41st district. Afterwords, she advanced to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the second district from 2020-2024, and now Iowa’s first district from 2024-present. Throughout her tenure, she has portrayed herself as a proponent of affordable healthcare and infrastructure development. However, her actions often contradict her stated positions.
Bringing The Flip-Flops To The House
Miller-Meeks is no stranger to going against her own promises. Right away in 2020, Miller-Meeks emphasized the importance of infrastructure, suggesting that an infrastructure bill would be her main priority, even proposing a fuel tax to fund it. Yet in 2021, she voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at improving the nation’s infrastructure.
Despite her opposition, she later took credit for the nearly $470 million in investments that the legislation brought to her district, attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies and praising projects funded by a bill she did not support.
Lies and Undelivered Promises
Miller-Meeks has consistently portrayed herself as an advocate for lowering prescription drug prices. In fact, she told a caller during her February 4th phone-in town hall that she was ‘pushing hard’ to keep costs down. However, her actions tell a different story. On August 12th, 2022, she received $1,000 contribution from the Eli Lilly and Company PAC, an insulin manufacturer, on the same day she voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which included provisions to cap insulin prices. Despite this, she continues to claim she is working hard to reduce these costs, misleading her constituents about her true priorities.
The Miller-Meeks Lobby
Miller-Meeks has publicly condemned the influence of super PACs and dark money in politics, likening them to “Hezbollah and Hamas being proxies to Iran.” Yet, her campaigns frequently benefit significantly from such contributions. For instance, she has received substantial support from pharmaceutical companies, raising questions about her commitment to reducing drug prices and her susceptibility to lobbying influences.
Some notable donations include:
The Congressional Leadership Fund spent $169,500 dollar attacking her competitor, Christina Bohannan
American Action Network Inc. spent $31,100 in the district promoting her
The American Medical Association PAC spent $23,800 supporting the Miller-Meeks Campaign
This is not the mention the Miller-Meeks affiliated Six PAC–a reference to her winning margin in the 2020 election. For the 2023-2024 election cycle, $2 million has been contributed to Six PAC, representing 43% of her total source of funds. Only roughly 7% came from small individual contributions. A total of 79% of her funding came from outside of the District.
Vilification Of Marginalized Peoples
Miller-Meeks has a mixed record on LGBTQ+ issues. While she voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which expanded protections for transgender individuals, and supported the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying same-sex marriage rights, she has been associated with rhetoric and policies that harm transgender communities. Her campaign advertisements have included language directly targeting said community. This language was used in the advertisements to vilify trans people, contributing to a climate of discrimination and intolerance. We all saw her ads on television.
Miller-Meeks has unsurprisingly taken the claim of “protecting women’s sports” as well as partaking in the bathroom debate. This debate, however, overlooks many common sense procedures already in place. No, men do not decide to go through years of medical procedures while being ostracized by the majority of people around them just to get a leg up in sports. Transgender people don’t even get to compete until their hormone levels are comparable to that of whom they are competing with. Regardless, Miller-Meeks voted in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
No, men do not decide to go through years of medical procedures while being ostracized by the majority of people around them just to use the other bathroom. If your issue with trans people is men pretending to be women to use the women’s bathroom, your issue is with predatory men, not transgender people. If you think of using the bathroom and immediately think it’s sexual, that also says more about you than transgender people.
What To Make Of This?
Marionette Miller-Meeks, our newly elected representative for Iowa’s first district, has a record fraught with contradictions and actions that undermine her public statements. Her flip-flops on key issues, unfulfilled promises, susceptibility and record of lobbying, as well as harmful rhetoric against marginalized groups reveal pattern of dishonesty and a failure to faithfully represent her constituents. Iowans deserve a representative who is transparent and genuinely committed to their well-being.
The views represented in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Lance. We welcome opinion pieces from all students.
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