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Sen. Joni Ernst faces hostile crowd at Cedar Rapids meeting

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March 17th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, at her first of two town hall meetings in Iowa, drew applause when she said Donald Trump should release his tax returns. For most of the hour-long town hall meeting at Coe College in Cedar Rapids she endured shouting and booing.

Ernst drew laughter and booing when she said many of the millions of people likely to lose insurance under the House GOP health care bill will willingly chose not to buy insurance once the mandates under the current law are lifted. She also faced shouts for suggesting climate change is a natural occurrence and booing when she said states should decide whether money is spent funding Planned Parenthood.

A second town hall meeting Friday evening will be held at Drake University in Des Moines.