“To me, the biggest problem we have is our $30 trillion debt to which we just added $8 trillion, which is causing extreme inflation,” the Republican from Hull said Saturday in Fort Dodge.

During the Eggs and Issues forum, Feenstra noted that the Federal Reserve is prepared to raise interest rates to combat that inflation. But raising interest rates, he said, will also raise the interest rate on the debt, creating what he called a “debt spiral.”

“I am a fiscal hawk and I will do everything I can to get us back to a balanced budget,” he said.

Feenstra, a former state senator, said Iowa law prohibits the state government from spending more than 99 percent of the revenue it receives. He suggested that it is time for the federal government to have something similar.

The congressman sharply criticized the use of continuing resolutions to keep the federal government operating and spending money instead of passing a proper budget.

“This is not the way our country is set up to operate,” he said. “I’m ashamed of our system and it’s got to dramatically change.”

Feenstra said the Biden administration seems ready to change the Waters of the United States rule in a way that would hurt farmers.

He said that under the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency used the rule to fine farmers for anything running off their fields after a couple inches of rain fell. He said the Trump administration stopped that, but the EPA apparently wants to go back to its previous ways of enforcing it.

“It seems like there are going to be a lot of changes and very punitive ones,” Feenstra said.

In world affairs, the United States must firmly oppose any move by Russia against Ukraine, according to Feenstra.

“We are still the strongest country in the world,” he said. “We have to work with our allies and say no, this shouldn’t happen. We just cannot have countries taking over other countries.”

Without mentioning any specifics, Feenstra said there are multiple actions the United States can take against Russia without sending troops to Ukraine.

Feenstra represents Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes Webster County and all of its surrounding counties.