U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, made her sixth stop on her 99-county tour of Iowa in Ames on Friday to meet with community members and to discuss topics such as national security and her first year in the Senate.

Nearly 50 people gathered for a luncheon with the senator in the Ames Chamber of Commerce on Main Street to hear her speak about her first year in office, as well as her work on various national policies.

This was the sixth stop of Ernst’s 99-county tour and, in jest, she added that she hoped to beat Sen. Chuck Grassley on his tour of Iowa.

“I think the 99-county tour is very important,” Ernst said. “We want to make sure we’re connecting with those people … and that we’re talking with those people, finding out what their challenges are and ways that we can do in the federal government. I wouldn’t get that if I weren’t traveling the roads and meeting with these folks.”

Ernst called her first year in office “tremendous” and outlined her accomplishments as a freshmen on the floor. This included her response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

She also spoke on the bipartisan collaboration she has seen in the Senate, which is something she said the public doesn’t know about.

To emphasize this, Ernst shared her experiences forming a partnership with California’s Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer to sponsor a bill to provide weapons to Kurds to fight ISIS.

It’s easy to work across the aisle on issues they agree on, Ernst said, but on issues they don’t agree on, the senator said she plans to keep the dialogue open.

“We’ll continue to keep the same dialogue because there won’t always be opportunities where we agree 100 percent,” Ernst said. “But if we can find other members that agree maybe 75 or 80 percent, it is much easier when you get to know that senator and can sit down and have discussions on where we can meet in the middle.”

Ernst also discussed matters of national security, including ISIS and North Korea’s alleged hydrogen bomb that was set off Tuesday evening.

Ernst called it a dangerous situation and stated the government was “unstable.”

She also called for more action against ISIS, citing that the terror group is gaining more territory in Afghanistan and northern Africa, which she called a matter of grave concern.

“First, we have to recognize there is a problem,” Ernst said. “ISIS is a problem. It needs to be addressed. Whether that is engaging our men and women or whether that’s engaging more in diplomatic discussion with our Arab partners in that region, we need to do that.”

Ernst also said national security is a subject of frustration and concern from the Iowans she has visited with so far.

Ernst also commented on the presidential race, saying she believes it will be an “interesting” race, but has no plans to endorse any candidate.

The senator said she encourages Iowans to look at all of the candidates running for president, both Democrats and Republicans, before placing their support behind a single candidate.

“I do encourage that they look at the policy behind the candidate, see if that policy aligns with their own values and then support that candidate,” Ernst said.