“Bold decisive leadership by the commander-in-chief sends a strong message to adversaries that this administration says what it means and means what it says,” McGowan said when asked about the Venezuela situation during a phone interview Wednesday.

McGowan, who is the president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and The Siouxland Initiative, is seeking the Republican nomination in the Fourth Congressional District, which includes Webster County and its surrounding counties. U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, is not seeking reelection because he is running for governor.

On Wednesday, he touted his endorsement by former Gov. Terry Branstad and a fundraising haul that exceeds $500,000.

With regard to Venezuela, he said the country was responsible for sending illegal drugs into the United States that contributed to the deaths of Americans.

McGowan acknowledged that the the United States must do a better job of reducing illegal drug use, and recalled former First Lady Nancy Reagen’s “Just say no” to drugs campaign.

But he added that “narco-terrorism must stop” and said that the sale of drugs contradicts federal law.

McGowan said the first priority of the federal government is to protect its citizens.

“There is no doubt that we have to invest in defense,” he said.

But because of the way money was wasted on a warship that bore the name of Sioux City, he wants to find a way to beef up the national defense in a fiscally responsible way.

He said the USS Sioux City cost $400 million to build, but it ended up being decommissioned in four years. No one, he said, was ever held accountable for that.

“We cannot continue to waste taxpayer money like this,” he said.

Branstad endorses McGowan

Chris McGowan, a Republican candidate for Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District, announced that America’s longest serving governor, and former Trump Administration Ambassador to China, Terry E. Branstad, has endorsed his campaign for Congress.

In a statement, the former governor and ambassador wrote, “As a senior in high school, Chris McGowan stepped into my office for the very first time to promote National 4-H Week. Since that time, we have worked together on numerous initiatives and economic development projects. Additionally, I will always remember that Chris was a steadfast ally when we battled a public relations crisis on behalf of one of Siouxland’s leading employers about a dozen years ago. Today, Chris has emerged as an ‘America First’ conservative, and I have every confidence that he will bring the same tenacity to Washington that I personally witnessed in Iowa as he works to advance President Trump’s agenda.”