(ABC 6 News) – On Wednesday, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley was in Mitchell and Howard Counties hearing from people about the issues that matter to them.

For more than 40 years, Grassley has toured all 99 Iowa counties. 2024 is no different as he traveled to Mitchell and Howard Counties.

Grassley spent the morning with the next generation of voters and politicians at Osage High School. Students were all ears, especially when talking about gun control.

“I think your parents legitimately ought to think this is the safest place you oughta be because you have an adult looking over you for six to seven hours. But sadly, it’s not,” the senator said to a room of about 30 students.

The longest-serving senator in Iowa history, students were curious about some of Grassley’s favorite moments.

“One time, to not have a close-up relationship, but one time to be in the audience, a relatively small audience when Pope Paul II was in Washington D.C., for example. Another time was when Queen Elizabeth being in the U.S. Capitol, that’s all.”

After he finished in Osage, it was off to the Regional Health Services of Howard County Medical Clinic which is undergoing renovations. It has a big undertaking, surrounding counties don’t have labor care.

“Rural health moms deserve the access to care. It’s important to us to remain the funding for that because it’s a huge extra expense for small, regional hospitals to maintain that,” Robin M. Schluter, President and CEO of Regional Health Services of Howard County told the senator during a tour.

While he saw work being done for the future of healthcare, he also talked about what he thinks can make it go even further.

“Telemedicine, I think is a good thing. I don’t know what you folks think about it. But it’s a good thing but probably we wouldn’t be talking about it everyday like we do now if it wasn’t for the pandemic.”

Nine counties down, 90 more to go.

When asked if the senator thinks the presidential election will be a repeat of 2020, he says it’s too soon to tell.