Joni Ernst Is Delivering the GOP Response to the State of the Union

Before she arrived in Washington, Joni Ernst was until recently best knownfor her childhood spent castrating hogs in Iowa. And next week, the freshman senator from Iowa will be known for delivering the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

The announcement that Ernst would deliver the rebuttal to the annual speech was made at the GOP's annual retreat, held in Hershey, Pa. this year.

Ernst said she was "truly humbled" by the opportunity to give the official response. "It is a long way from Red Oak [Iowa] to Washington, D.C. and growing up on a southwest Iowa farm years ago I never, never would have imagined that I would have this opportunity, so thank you," she said during a press conference at the retreat alongside House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The GOP mission, she said, "is to craft and implement good policies, good solutions, which will enable us to get America on a better path."

Last year's official GOP response was delivered by House GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, making this the second year in a row a woman has given the rebuttal to Obama's speech. Ernst is Iowa's first female senator.

McConnell said in a statement that Ernst "brings a unique perspective" to the Senate. "She is a mother, a soldier, and an independent leader who serves in Washington because Americans voted for change in the last election, and Joni understands that middle-class Americans want Congress to get back to work," he said.