Press releases
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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739 rows where state = "IA" and year = 2013 sorted by date descending
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| url | title | date ▲ | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140110164209/http://www.grassley.senate.gov:80/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47871 | Grassley to Kick Off 99-County Tour | 2013-12-23 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley will begin holding meetings with Iowans in every county again next year with meetings in Floyd and Chickasaw counties on Friday, Jan. 3.“Representative government is a two-way street, and it’s strengthened by dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent,” Grassley said. “I look forward to events and meetings where I listen to comments, hear concerns and respond directly to questions. I’m committed to keeping in touch with Iowans.” Grassley has held at least one meeting with Iowans in each of the state’s 99 counties every year since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980. Grassley will be available for 15 minutes before the meeting at Nashua-Plainfield High School and 15 minutes after the meeting at Mitas Tires to answer questions from local reporters. Otherwise, members of the media should contact the individual host about each event, as Grassley is a guest of each organization. Here are the details of Grassley’s schedule for Friday, Jan. 3: 12:45-1:45 p.m. Q&A with students at Nashua-Plainfield High School 612 Greeley Street Nashua *The press availability from 12:30-12:45 p.m. will be in the main office. 2:15-3:15 p.m. Tour and Q&A with employees at Mitas Tires North America, Inc. 1200 Rove Avenue Charles City *The press availability from 3:15-3:30 p.m. will be in the conference room. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043045/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47867 | Grassley Joins Effort to Stop OSHA's Illegal Regulatory Actions | 2013-12-23 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON- Sen. Chuck Grassley has joined 42 other senators in requesting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to stop unlawful regulations on small family farms. Since 1976, Congress has exempted small, family-run farms with 10 or fewer employees from OSHA regulations. However, in a 2011 memo, OSHA asserted that on-farm grain storage and handling was not part of farm operations. By viewing grain storage as distinct from the farming operation, the senators’ request said OSHA is creating an artificial distinction that would subject virtually every farm to OSHA regulations without allowing for congressional review and public comment, and in defiance of the law. “OSHA is overstepping its bounds here,” Grassley said. “Grain storage is an essential part of farming. The federal government is expanding its reach to include farms that should be exempt, and is doing so despite the clear intent of Congress.” The request from senators was made in a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who oversees OSHA, as well as to OSHA, asking that OSHA update guidance correcting its misinterpretation of the law. This bipartisan effort is led by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). The letter also was signed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jeanne … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-joins-effort-stop-oshas-illegal-regulatory-actions | Grassley Joins Effort to Stop OSHA's Illegal Regulatory Actions | 2013-12-23 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON- Sen. Chuck Grassley has joined 42 other senators in requesting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to stop unlawful regulations on small family farms. Since 1976, Congress has exempted small, family-run farms with 10 or fewer employees from OSHA regulations. However, in a 2011 memo, OSHA asserted that on-farm grain storage and handling was not part of farm operations. By viewing grain storage as distinct from the farming operation, the senators' request said OSHA is creating an artificial distinction that would subject virtually every farm to OSHA regulations without allowing for congressional review and public comment, and in defiance of the law. OSHA is overstepping its bounds here, Grassley said. Grain storage is an essential part of farming. The federal government is expanding its reach to include farms that should be exempt, and is doing so despite the clear intent of Congress. The request from senators was made in a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who oversees OSHA, as well as to OSHA, asking that OSHA update guidance correcting its misinterpretation of the law. This bipartisan effort is led by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). The letter also was signed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Rich… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-kick-99-county-tour | Grassley to Kick Off 99-County Tour | 2013-12-23 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley will begin holding meetings with Iowans in every county again next year with meetings in Floyd and Chickasaw counties on Friday, Jan. 3. Representative government is a two-way street, and it's strengthened by dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent, Grassley said. I look forward to events and meetings where I listen to comments, hear concerns and respond directly to questions. I'm committed to keeping in touch with Iowans. Grassley has held at least one meeting with Iowans in each of the state's 99 counties every year since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980. Grassley will be available for 15 minutes before the meeting at Nashua-Plainfield High School and 15 minutes after the meeting at Mitas Tires to answer questions from local reporters. Otherwise, members of the media should contact the individual host about each event, as Grassley is a guest of each organization. Here are the details of Grassley's schedule for Friday, Jan. 3: 12:45-1:45 p.m. Q&A with students at Nashua-Plainfield High School 612 Greeley Street Nashua *The press availability from 12:30-12:45 p.m. will be in the main office. 2:15-3:15 p.m. Tour and Q&A with employees at Mitas Tires North America, Inc. 1200 Rove Avenue Charles City *The press availability from 3:15-3:30 p.m. will be in the conference room. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043052/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47853 | EB-5 Visa Program Faces Tough Questions | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | The EB-5 visa program has been used for decades as a tool to encourage foreign investment and job creation in the United States in exchange for a U.S. visa. Over the past three years, there has been a remarkable increase in the amount of foreigners using this visa program. At first glance, this appeared to be a positive development. But, as whistleblowers came forward, and we took a detailed look, there appear to be some major flaws that need fixing. For instance, last week I sent a letter to the Acting Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement inquiring about a memo from his agency that expressed grave concerns about the EB-5 visa program. The internal memo identified several areas of vulnerability within the EB-5 visa program, and it questioned whether the vulnerabilities could be fixed in order to “ensure the integrity of the program.” I was especially concerned about a section of the memo that outlines how the EB-5 program “may be abused by Iranian operatives to infiltrate the United States.” According to the memo, Immigrations and Custom Enforcement investigators became concerned about the program while scrutinizing operatives who allegedly “facilitate terrorism and are involved in an illicit procurement network that exports items to Iran... .” Whistleblowers provided this memo, as well as evidence that the leadership team at Citizenship and Immigration Services was susceptible to political pressure and favoritism. The U.S. immigration system should be governed by equal application of the law—not by who has the best political connections to the director of the agency. Unfortunately, despite concerns of many senators and an ongoing investigation by the independent Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security, Senate Democrats proceeded to vote on the now former director of Citizenship and Immigration Services to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The national security concerns that whistleblowers brought forward, along with the internal memo, show reas… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043100/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47848 | Report Card for 113th Congress | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | As the first session of the 113th Congress ends, year-end performance reviews are under way. Public opinion of Washington is remarkably low. The mismanaged roll out of the federal health insurance website and broken promises from the President have frustrated many Americans. A shortsighted decision by the Senate Majority Leader to trample on minority party rights has likely poisoned the well for sweeping bipartisan achievements in the U.S. Senate. Still, rank-and-file lawmakers in Congress continue working on the people’s business that affects the lives of ordinary families, workers, farmers, students, soldiers, veterans and retirees. From keeping rural health care and higher education accessible to hardworking Iowa families; to championing renewable energy that’s good for consumers, the environment and economy; balancing intelligence-gathering with privacy rights; or, challenging the administration’s decision to sweep the trafficking and sale of illicit drugs under the prosecutorial rug, I’m working to make sure the nation’s public policies square with the principles of good governance and proper stewardship of tax dollars. As a member of the Senate Budget, Agriculture, Finance committees, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the International Narcotics Control and Foster Youth caucuses, I’ve participated this year in scores of congressional oversight, nomination and legislative hearings to advance economic and social policies that build upon America’s landscape of opportunity, mobility and prosperity. Whereas many in Washington seem to believe that redistributing wealth and raising taxes magically will solve income inequality, cure global warming and achieve world peace, the fact is that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.Washington needs to take less so that Americans can do more spending and investing with their hard-earned money to create jobs and prosperity. It’s frustrating this Congress busted the spending caps agreed to in August 2011. A… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043406/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47860 | Farm and Nutrition Bill Payment Limits/Actively Engaged Update | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, one of two working family farmers in the Senate, made the following comment about the current status of the farm and nutrition bill negotiations and his provisions to place a hard cap on farm payments and the actively engaged loophole. “As members of Congress head home for the holidays, farm bill negotiators still have a to-do list. It’s my understanding that the last remaining issue to be resolved is my provision to place a hard cap on farm payments and close the loophole that tens of thousands of people are using claiming to be actively engaged in the business of farming. These provisions are in both bills, and should not be subject to negotiation. They should have DO NOT TOUCH stamped across that section of the bill. Unfortunately, the minority in both the House and Senate who voted against these provisions are a majority on the conference committee, so it remains a fight to the end. To close loopholes for food stamps, but leave open loopholes for the biggest farmers to exploit taxpayers is the wrong way to do business. We ought to apply scrutiny and end abuse in all programs.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043413/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47840 | Homegrown Energy That Makes Sense | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | The U.S. Senate exhibits more bipartisanship than what makes the biggest headlines. This week, a bipartisan group of 16 senators met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to deliver a single message: The agency’s proposed reduction of the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014 would discourage investment and hurt jobs in rural communities across the country while undermining a homegrown fuel supply. The EPA wants to lower the biodiesel target below current industry production levels and reduce the conventional ethanol target by more than a billion gallons. In a Capitol Hill meeting, Administrator McCarthy listened to senators’ concerns. I tried to impress upon her that while President Obama and his administration have claimed to be in favor of domestic biofuels, this proposal is a step backward and will harm our efforts to further diversify our fuel supply. The fact is, the “blend wall” limiting the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline is a result of Big Oil’s obstruction to higher ethanol blends, and the EPA’s proposal rewards its obstruction. The Administrator heard a lot about the harm this proposal would do to the environment, our national and energy security, and our rural economies. I also personally relayed the request of the entire Iowa delegation to host a field hearing in Iowa to hear directly from farmers and biofuels producers about the benefits of the RFS. The EPA has a record of deciding major policy issues without hearing directly from the employers, workers and communities affected. That’s a poor way to conduct the nation’s business. I hope the Capitol Hill meeting persuaded the agency’s leader on that point. Meanwhile, an example of forward-thinking energy policy unfolded in Iowa. The MidAmerican Energy Company announced that it plans to add up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa by year-end 2015, including up to 448 new wind turbines, in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O’Brien and Webster counties. All of the blades for the expansion wi… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043834/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47845 | Budget Deal: Too Much Spending, Too Little Discipline | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | This week, the Senate gave final approval to the House-Senate budget deal that sets upcoming levels for government spending. While I appreciate the bipartisan effort that brokered this budget deal, I couldn’t support the proposal. It spends an additional $63 billion over the next two years when we have a $17 trillion debt. To offset that higher spending, it raises revenue over ten years but spends that money in the first two years. It raises fees on air travelers and corporate pension premiums and reduces retirement benefits for military retirees to offset unrelated spending. The spending cuts are meager, and nearly all of them are put off until 2022 and 2023. We’ll never get the nation’s fiscal house in order if we keep kicking the can down the road, or pretending the can doesn’t exist. As a start at fiscal discipline, we should at least abide by the spending caps put in place in August 2011 that provided a $2.1 trillion increase in the nation’s debt ceiling. This budget deal emphasizes that Congress has a spending problem. In the new year, I’ll continue to advocate for fiscal restraint and getting the most value for tax dollars spent. One of Congress’ primary duties is enacting a budget and appropriating spending. That means there are always opportunities to reduce spending if we just have the will to do it. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043840/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47834 | Grassley, Casey Promote Proposal to Allow Residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to Receive Medicare Services in Integrated Arrangement | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley, Casey Promote Proposal to Allow Residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to Receive Medicare Services in Integrated ArrangementWASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said today they hope to advance their proposal to make it easier for the residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to receive Medicare services through care coordination and disease management services provided onsite. These services would avoid hospitalizations and lower the total cost of care for seniors as they age in place, and their needs increase. “The physician payments bill approved in committee depends on the creation of models where providers are willing to take on risk and provide quality care,” Grassley said. “If nursing home communities are willing to meet those goals and standards, we should allow them that opportunity. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation should be testing models like the one suggested in this amendment.” “While Congress has taken steps to more toward better care coordination, we must continue to look for innovative ways to move the Medicare program forward when treating beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions,” Casey said. “I believe Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) in Pennsylvania and around the country are up to this challenge.” Grassley and Casey filed but not offer an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would require the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to consider allowing Continuing Care Retirement Communities to receive Medicare services provided under a risk-adjusted, per-person payment arrangement. Grassley and Casey said these arrangements could improve the efficiency and quality of senior care and align incentives to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. Medical homes, care coordination and disease management are among the most promising strategies for cost containment and quality improvem… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/budget-deal-too-much-spending-too-little-discipline | Budget Deal: Too Much Spending, Too Little Discipline | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | This week, the Senate gave final approval to the House-Senate budget deal that sets upcoming levels for government spending. While I appreciate the bipartisan effort that brokered this budget deal, I couldn't support the proposal. It spends an additional $63 billion over the next two years when we have a $17 trillion debt. To offset that higher spending, it raises revenue over ten years but spends that money in the first two years. It raises fees on air travelers and corporate pension premiums and reduces retirement benefits for military retirees to offset unrelated spending. The spending cuts are meager, and nearly all of them are put off until 2022 and 2023. We'll never get the nation's fiscal house in order if we keep kicking the can down the road, or pretending the can doesn't exist. As a start at fiscal discipline, we should at least abide by the spending caps put in place in August 2011 that provided a $2.1 trillion increase in the nation's debt ceiling. This budget deal emphasizes that Congress has a spending problem. In the new year, I'll continue to advocate for fiscal restraint and getting the most value for tax dollars spent. One of Congress' primary duties is enacting a budget and appropriating spending. That means there are always opportunities to reduce spending if we just have the will to do it. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/eb-5-visa-program-faces-tough-questions | EB-5 Visa Program Faces Tough Questions | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | The EB-5 visa program has been used for decades as a tool to encourage foreign investment and job creation in the United States in exchange for a U.S. visa. Over the past three years, there has been a remarkable increase in the amount of foreigners using this visa program. At first glance, this appeared to be a positive development. But, as whistleblowers came forward, and we took a detailed look, there appear to be some major flaws that need fixing. For instance, last week I sent a letter to the Acting Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement inquiring about a memo from his agency that expressed grave concerns about the EB-5 visa program. The internal memo identified several areas of vulnerability within the EB-5 visa program, and it questioned whether the vulnerabilities could be fixed in order to ensure the integrity of the program. I was especially concerned about a section of the memo that outlines how the EB-5 program may be abused by Iranian operatives to infiltrate the United States. According to the memo, Immigrations and Custom Enforcement investigators became concerned about the program while scrutinizing operatives who allegedly facilitate terrorism and are involved in an illicit procurement network that exports items to Iran... . Whistleblowers provided this memo, as well as evidence that the leadership team at Citizenship and Immigration Services was susceptible to political pressure and favoritism. The U.S. immigration system should be governed by equal application of the lawnot by who has the best political connections to the director of the agency. Unfortunately, despite concerns of many senators and an ongoing investigation by the independent Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security, Senate Democrats proceeded to vote on the now former director of Citizenship and Immigration Services to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The national security concerns that whistleblowers brought forward, along with the internal memo, show reason to take a h… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/farm-and-nutrition-bill-payment-limitsactively-engaged-update | Farm and Nutrition Bill Payment Limits/Actively Engaged Update | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, one of two working family farmers in the Senate, made the following comment about the current status of the farm and nutrition bill negotiations and his provisions to place a hard cap on farm payments and the actively engaged loophole. As members of Congress head home for the holidays, farm bill negotiators still have a to-do list. It's my understanding that the last remaining issue to be resolved is my provision to place a hard cap on farm payments and close the loophole that tens of thousands of people are using claiming to be actively engaged in the business of farming. These provisions are in both bills, and should not be subject to negotiation. They should have DO NOT TOUCH stamped across that section of the bill. Unfortunately, the minority in both the House and Senate who voted against these provisions are a majority on the conference committee, so it remains a fight to the end. To close loopholes for food stamps, but leave open loopholes for the biggest farmers to exploit taxpayers is the wrong way to do business. We ought to apply scrutiny and end abuse in all programs. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-casey-promote-proposal-allow-residents-continuing-care-retirement | Grassley, Casey Promote Proposal to Allow Residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to Receive Medicare Services in Integrated Arrangement | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley, Casey Promote Proposal to Allow Residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to Receive Medicare Services in Integrated Arrangement WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said today they hope to advance their proposal to make it easier for the residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities to receive Medicare services through care coordination and disease management services provided onsite. These services would avoid hospitalizations and lower the total cost of care for seniors as they age in place, and their needs increase. The physician payments bill approved in committee depends on the creation of models where providers are willing to take on risk and provide quality care, Grassley said. If nursing home communities are willing to meet those goals and standards, we should allow them that opportunity. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation should be testing models like the one suggested in this amendment. While Congress has taken steps to more toward better care coordination, we must continue to look for innovative ways to move the Medicare program forward when treating beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions, Casey said. I believe Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) in Pennsylvania and around the country are up to this challenge. Grassley and Casey filed but not offer an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would require the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to consider allowing Continuing Care Retirement Communities to receive Medicare services provided under a risk-adjusted, per-person payment arrangement. Grassley and Casey said these arrangements could improve the efficiency and quality of senior care and align incentives to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. Medical homes, care coordination and disease management are among the most promising strategies for cost containment and quality improvement in health care deliver… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/homegrown-energy-makes-sense | Homegrown Energy That Makes Sense | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | The U.S. Senate exhibits more bipartisanship than what makes the biggest headlines. This week, a bipartisan group of 16 senators met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to deliver a single message: The agency's proposed reduction of the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014 would discourage investment and hurt jobs in rural communities across the country while undermining a homegrown fuel supply. The EPA wants to lower the biodiesel target below current industry production levels and reduce the conventional ethanol target by more than a billion gallons. In a Capitol Hill meeting, Administrator McCarthy listened to senators' concerns. I tried to impress upon her that while President Obama and his administration have claimed to be in favor of domestic biofuels, this proposal is a step backward and will harm our efforts to further diversify our fuel supply. The fact is, the blend wall limiting the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline is a result of Big Oil's obstruction to higher ethanol blends, and the EPA's proposal rewards its obstruction. The Administrator heard a lot about the harm this proposal would do to the environment, our national and energy security, and our rural economies. I also personally relayed the request of the entire Iowa delegation to host a field hearing in Iowa to hear directly from farmers and biofuels producers about the benefits of the RFS. The EPA has a record of deciding major policy issues without hearing directly from the employers, workers and communities affected. That's a poor way to conduct the nation's business. I hope the Capitol Hill meeting persuaded the agency's leader on that point. Meanwhile, an example of forward-thinking energy policy unfolded in Iowa. The MidAmerican Energy Company announced that it plans to add up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa by year-end 2015, including up to 448 new wind turbines, in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O'Brien and Webster counties. All of the blades for the expansion will be manufactu… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/report-card-113th-congress | Report Card for 113th Congress | 2013-12-20 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | As the first session of the 113th Congress ends, year-end performance reviews are under way. Public opinion of Washington is remarkably low. The mismanaged roll out of the federal health insurance website and broken promises from the President have frustrated many Americans. A shortsighted decision by the Senate Majority Leader to trample on minority party rights has likely poisoned the well for sweeping bipartisan achievements in the U.S. Senate. Still, rank-and-file lawmakers in Congress continue working on the people's business that affects the lives of ordinary families, workers, farmers, students, soldiers, veterans and retirees. From keeping rural health care and higher education accessible to hardworking Iowa families; to championing renewable energy that's good for consumers, the environment and economy; balancing intelligence-gathering with privacy rights; or, challenging the administration's decision to sweep the trafficking and sale of illicit drugs under the prosecutorial rug, I'm working to make sure the nation's public policies square with the principles of good governance and proper stewardship of tax dollars. As a member of the Senate Budget, Agriculture, Finance committees, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the International Narcotics Control and Foster Youth caucuses, I've participated this year in scores of congressional oversight, nomination and legislative hearings to advance economic and social policies that build upon America's landscape of opportunity, mobility and prosperity. Whereas many in Washington seem to believe that redistributing wealth and raising taxes magically will solve income inequality, cure global warming and achieve world peace, the fact is that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Washington needs to take less so that Americans can do more spending and investing with their hard-earned money to create jobs and prosperity. It's frustrating this Congress busted the spending caps agreed to in August 2011. Although Washington won… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043107/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47829 | Continued Concerns with Mayorkas Nomination | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Prepared Floor Speech of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Mayorkas Failed to Fix National Security Concerns Thursday, December 19, 2013 Just two days ago I was on this floor explaining the concerns I have with Mr. Mayorkas’s nomination. I have additional information for my colleagues. Today, the Office of Inspector General, or OIG, for the Department of Homeland Security released an embargoed version of its audit of the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. The report states that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has difficulty ensuring the integrity of the program and does not always ensure that regional centers meet all eligibility requirements. Specifically, it said: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not always enforce its own regulations and procedures to assist with managing the regional center program.” “Until improvements are made, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is unable to prevent fraud and national security threats. . .” “[I]t cannot report the results of the program accurately or ensure the EB-5 program is benefiting the U.S. economy and creating jobs for U.S. citizens as created by Congress.” You understand that Mr. Mayorkas is in charge of this program. The IG said that the agency needed to improve coordination and rely on the expertise of other agencies. The IG had several recommendations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that, frankly, should have been in place before now if the director was doing his job. In his comments on the draft report, Mr. Mayorkas claimed that he was already addressing the issues the OIG raised. He said his agency had “dramatically enhanced collaboration with key government partners,” such as the FBI. He also wrote that when his agency has concerns with EB-5 cases, it doesn’t decide the cases until it has “fully coordinated its approach with enforcement and intelligence partners.” I’ve seen examples of this so-called coordination Mr. Mayorkas talks about. But again, his words … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043111/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47826 | Grassley Statement on the Abuse of Cloture Motions | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa “The Abuse of Cloture Motions” Wednesday, December 19, 2013 The Senate is poised to vote on a final National Defense Authorization Act after considering only two amendments. The Senate has not been functioning like it should for some time and the way the National Defense Authorization Act has been handled is just one example. I’ve served in the majority and the minority with Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents so I’ve seen it operate from every perspective. What’s unique about the Senate is that the rules and traditions force senators to work together. That leads senators to understand where the other side is coming from, resulting in mutual respect and comity. I hear from a lot of Iowans who are upset at the tone they hear from Washington and the lack of bipartisanship. I’ve often said that the Senate functions best when no party has more than about 55 seats. If you have much more than that, there is less of a tendency to want to work in a bipartisan fashion. That was true for most of my time in the Senate, but not now. Despite a current margin of just 5 seats in the Senate, there has been very little bipartisan cooperation. I suppose some Democratic senators really believe it when they say that this is all Republicans’ fault. I think anyone who remembers how the Senate used to operate and has paid attention to how the current majority leadership has been running things, knows better. In fairness, quite a few members of the Senate don’t remember how the Senate is supposed to operate because it has been dysfunctional ever since they were elected. Some senators previously served in the House of Representatives, where the majority party controls everything that happens. In the House of Representatives, the Rules Committee sets out the terms of debate for each bill. If you want to offer an amendment in the House, you have to go hat in hand to the Rules Committee and say, “Mother may I?” If the House leadership doesn’t like your… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043117/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47820 | Grassley Statement at Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting - Kadzik, Committee Matters | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley Statement at Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting - Kadzik, Committee MattersPrepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary Executive Business Meeting Nominations: John B. Owens to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Michelle T. Friedland, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Nancy L. Moritz, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit David Jeremiah Barron, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit Matthew Frederick Leitman, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Judith Ellen Levy, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Laurie J. Michelson, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Linda Vivienne Parker, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Christopher Reid Cooper, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia Gerald Austin McHugh, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania M. Douglas Harpool, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri Edward G. Smith, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Sheryl H. Lipman, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee Stanley Allen Bastian, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington Manish S. Shah, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Peter Joseph Kadzik, to be an Assistant Attorney General Robert L. Hobbs, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas Gary L. Blankinship, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Texas Legislation: S.619 Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, S.1410 Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013, S.1675 Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act of 2013, S.975 Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Se… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043847/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47816 | Grassley Praises Data on Dually Eligibles in Medicare, Medicaid | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) have released a new data book, “Beneficiaries Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.” The merging of data to help inform Congress on the critical issue of dually eligible beneficiaries is an important step that Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has advocated. Grassley has previously used information that was produced from jointly reconciled data by the two organizations that was the precursor to this report. Grassley made the following comment on this development. “Providing better coordinated care and reducing costs for high-cost beneficiaries is critical for the future of Medicare and Medicaid. All of us need to understand the needs and the costs of covering the dually eligible and other high-cost beneficiaries before we can find rational ways to control costs and preserve needed services. I appreciate the work of these two expert commissions to inform the debate.” The joint analysis is available here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/continued-concerns-mayorkas-nomination | Continued Concerns with Mayorkas Nomination | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Prepared Floor Speech of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Mayorkas Failed to Fix National Security Concerns Thursday, December 19, 2013 Just two days ago I was on this floor explaining the concerns I have with Mr. Mayorkas's nomination. I have additional information for my colleagues. Today, the Office of Inspector General, or OIG, for the Department of Homeland Security released an embargoed version of its audit of the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. The report states that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has difficulty ensuring the integrity of the program and does not always ensure that regional centers meet all eligibility requirements. Specifically, it said: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not always enforce its own regulations and procedures to assist with managing the regional center program. Until improvements are made, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is unable to prevent fraud and national security threats. . . [I]t cannot report the results of the program accurately or ensure the EB-5 program is benefiting the U.S. economy and creating jobs for U.S. citizens as created by Congress. You understand that Mr. Mayorkas is in charge of this program. The IG said that the agency needed to improve coordination and rely on the expertise of other agencies. The IG had several recommendations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that, frankly, should have been in place before now if the director was doing his job. In his comments on the draft report, Mr. Mayorkas claimed that he was already addressing the issues the OIG raised. He said his agency had dramatically enhanced collaboration with key government partners, such as the FBI. He also wrote that when his agency has concerns with EB-5 cases, it doesn't decide the cases until it has fully coordinated its approach with enforcement and intelligence partners. I've seen examples of this so-called coordination Mr. Mayorkas talks about. But again, his words don't comport with the a… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-praises-data-dually-eligibles-medicare-medicaid | Grassley Praises Data on Dually Eligibles in Medicare, Medicaid | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) have released a new data book, Beneficiaries Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The merging of data to help inform Congress on the critical issue of dually eligible beneficiaries is an important step that Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has advocated. Grassley has previously used information that was produced from jointly reconciled data by the two organizations that was the precursor to this report. Grassley made the following comment on this development. Providing better coordinated care and reducing costs for high-cost beneficiaries is critical for the future of Medicare and Medicaid. All of us need to understand the needs and the costs of covering the dually eligible and other high-cost beneficiaries before we can find rational ways to control costs and preserve needed services. I appreciate the work of these two expert commissions to inform the debate. The joint analysis is available here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-abuse-cloture-motions | Grassley Statement on the Abuse of Cloture Motions | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of IowaThe Abuse of Cloture Motions Wednesday, December 19, 2013 The Senate is poised to vote on a final National Defense Authorization Act after considering only two amendments. The Senate has not been functioning like it should for some time and the way the National Defense Authorization Act has been handled is just one example. I've served in the majority and the minority with Democratic Presidents and Republican Presidents so I've seen it operate from every perspective. What's unique about the Senate is that the rules and traditions force senators to work together. That leads senators to understand where the other side is coming from, resulting in mutual respect and comity. I hear from a lot of Iowans who are upset at the tone they hear from Washington and the lack of bipartisanship. I've often said that the Senate functions best when no party has more than about 55 seats. If you have much more than that, there is less of a tendency to want to work in a bipartisan fashion. That was true for most of my time in the Senate, but not now. Despite a current margin of just 5 seats in the Senate, there has been very little bipartisan cooperation. I suppose some Democratic senators really believe it when they say that this is all Republicans' fault. I think anyone who remembers how the Senate used to operate and has paid attention to how the current majority leadership has been running things, knows better. In fairness, quite a few members of the Senate don't remember how the Senate is supposed to operate because it has been dysfunctional ever since they were elected. Some senators previously served in the House of Representatives, where the majority party controls everything that happens. In the House of Representatives, the Rules Committee sets out the terms of debate for each bill. If you want to offer an amendment in the House, you have to go hat in hand to the Rules Committee and say, Mother may I? If the House leadership doesn't like your amendment, you're out o… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-judiciary-committee-executive-business-meeting-kadzik | Grassley Statement at Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting - Kadzik, Committee Matters | 2013-12-19 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley Statement at Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting - Kadzik, Committee Matters Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary Executive Business Meeting Nominations: John B. Owens to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Michelle T. Friedland, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Nancy L. Moritz, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit David Jeremiah Barron, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit Matthew Frederick Leitman, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Judith Ellen Levy, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Laurie J. Michelson, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Linda Vivienne Parker, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan Christopher Reid Cooper, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia Gerald Austin McHugh, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania M. Douglas Harpool, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri Edward G. Smith, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Sheryl H. Lipman, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee Stanley Allen Bastian, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington Manish S. Shah, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Peter Joseph Kadzik, to be an Assistant Attorney General Robert L. Hobbs, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas Gary L. Blankinship, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Texas Legislation: S.619 Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, S.1410 Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013, S.1675 Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act of 2013, S.975 Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act Thursday, December 19, 2013 Mr.… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043423/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47812 | Grassley Presses EPA Administrator on Proposed Reduction in Renewable Fuel Standard | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | For Immediate Release December 18, 2013 Grassley Presses EPA Administrator on Proposed Reduction in Renewable Fuel Standard Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today participated in a bipartisan senators’ meeting with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to discuss the Obama Administration’s proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Grassley made the following comment after the meeting. “I’m glad Administrator McCarthy listened to senators’ concerns. I tried to impress upon her that while President Obama and his administration have claimed to be in favor of domestic biofuels, this proposal is a step backward and will harm our efforts to further diversify our fuel supply. The fact is, the blend wall is a result of Big Oil’s obstruction to higher ethanol blends, and EPA’s proposal rewards its obstruction. The Administrator heard a lot about the harm this proposal would do to the environment, our national and energy security, and our rural economies. I also personally relayed the request of the entire Iowa delegation to host a field hearing in Iowa to hear directly from farmers and biofuels producers about the benefits of the RFS.” The bipartisan letter requesting a field hearing in Iowa is available here. More on Grassley’s views on the proposed reduction is available here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043855/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47795 | Grassley, Rockefeller, Carper Look to Advance Provision to Improve Care, Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes via Medicare and Medicaid | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley, Rockefeller, Carper Look to Advance Provision to Improve Care, Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes via Medicare and MedicaidWASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said today they will look for opportunities to advance their bipartisan proposal to provide coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity and the coordination of programs to prevent and treat obesity in Medicare and Medicaid.“The costs to society caused by diabetes and obesity are tremendous,” Grassley said. “There are ways to reduce the incidence of both those conditions. Working with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office, I’m confident we can take steps to achieve better health for Americans battling these two conditions.” “I’ve long held that preventive measures are one of the best ways we can improve health outcomes and save money on health care,” Rockefeller said. “Chronic diseases like diabetes are expensive to manage and, if left unaddressed, lead to additional health problems down the road. Our effort works to prevent and manage obesity and diabetes through increased access to prevention programs for Medicare and Medicaid subscribers. This will lead to greater health care savings and has the potential to improve overall health outcomes which will boost the productivity and well being of our communities.” “We all know that obesity and diabetes are two of the main drivers of poor health and increasing health care costs in our country,” Carper said. “If we do not rein in the growth of obesity and diabetes, this may be the first generation of Americans with a shorter life span than earlier generations. Overweight and obese patients are at increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and other adverse health outcomes. Spending on diabetes treatment alone is one of the fastest growing parts of Medicare. To get this epidemic under control, we need to ensure that Medicare covers the full range of therapies and t… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044434/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47809 | Grassley Responds to Chairman Leahy's statement on Judiciary Committee matters | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following comment in response to a statement released earlier today by the Judiciary Committee Chairman. “There’s no doubt that after the Democrats broke the rules to change the rules, it’s going to be harder to get things done. There is only one party that voted for the irresponsible rules change. And, the fact of the matter is that given the atmosphere the Democrats created by invoking the nuclear option, nominations are going to be given added scrutiny. “It’s interesting that Democrats are blaming Republicans for not being at an executive business meeting last month. They must have a short memory. That was the very day and time that the Democrats decided to ignore two centuries of Senate history and precedent to break the rules and invoked the nuclear option with a simple majority vote, thereby disrupting the committee mark-up. “The so-called obstruction of nominees is a figment of the Democrats’ imagination. They are blatantly misleading the public. We have confirmed 44 judicial nominees this year alone. To put this number in context, the Democrats allowed only 21 of President Bush’s judicial nominees to be confirmed in the fifth year of his presidency. The only thing being obstructed is the rights of the minority. “Now, they are resorting to new threats at the committee level. It’s a sad commentary on the Democrats’ rule of the Senate and the Obama administration. They are slowly but surely taking the world’s greatest deliberative body and moving towards a majoritarian body, all in the name of rubberstamping the President’s extremely unpopular regulatory agenda.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-presses-epa-administrator-proposed-reduction-renewable-fuel-standard | Grassley Presses EPA Administrator on Proposed Reduction in Renewable Fuel Standard | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley Presses EPA Administrator on Proposed Reduction in Renewable Fuel Standard Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today participated in a bipartisan senators' meeting with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to discuss the Obama Administration's proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Grassley made the following comment after the meeting. I'm glad Administrator McCarthy listened to senators' concerns. I tried to impress upon her that while President Obama and his administration have claimed to be in favor of domestic biofuels, this proposal is a step backward and will harm our efforts to further diversify our fuel supply. The fact is, the blend wall is a result of Big Oil's obstruction to higher ethanol blends, and EPA's proposal rewards its obstruction. The Administrator heard a lot about the harm this proposal would do to the environment, our national and energy security, and our rural economies. I also personally relayed the request of the entire Iowa delegation to host a field hearing in Iowa to hear directly from farmers and biofuels producers about the benefits of the RFS. The bipartisan letter requesting a field hearing in Iowa is available here . More on Grassley's views on the proposed reduction is available here . | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-responds-chairman-leahys-statement-judiciary-committee-matters | Grassley Responds to Chairman Leahy's statement on Judiciary Committee matters | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following comment in response to a statement released earlier today by the Judiciary Committee Chairman. There's no doubt that after the Democrats broke the rules to change the rules, it's going to be harder to get things done. There is only one party that voted for the irresponsible rules change. And, the fact of the matter is that given the atmosphere the Democrats created by invoking the nuclear option, nominations are going to be given added scrutiny. It's interesting that Democrats are blaming Republicans for not being at an executive business meeting last month. They must have a short memory. That was the very day and time that the Democrats decided to ignore two centuries of Senate history and precedent to break the rules and invoked the nuclear option with a simple majority vote, thereby disrupting the committee mark-up. The so-called obstruction of nominees is a figment of the Democrats' imagination. They are blatantly misleading the public. We have confirmed 44 judicial nominees this year alone. To put this number in context, the Democrats allowed only 21 of President Bush's judicial nominees to be confirmed in the fifth year of his presidency. The only thing being obstructed is the rights of the minority. Now, they are resorting to new threats at the committee level. It's a sad commentary on the Democrats' rule of the Senate and the Obama administration. They are slowly but surely taking the world's greatest deliberative body and moving towards a majoritarian body, all in the name of rubberstamping the President's extremely unpopular regulatory agenda. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-rockefeller-carper-look-advance-provision-improve-care-prevention | Grassley, Rockefeller, Carper Look to Advance Provision to Improve Care, Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes via Medicare and Medicaid | 2013-12-18 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley, Rockefeller, Carper Look to Advance Provision to Improve Care, Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes via Medicare and Medicaid WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said today they will look for opportunities to advance their bipartisan proposal to provide coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity and the coordination of programs to prevent and treat obesity in Medicare and Medicaid.The costs to society caused by diabetes and obesity are tremendous, Grassley said. There are ways to reduce the incidence of both those conditions. Working with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office, I'm confident we can take steps to achieve better health for Americans battling these two conditions. I've long held that preventive measures are one of the best ways we can improve health outcomes and save money on health care, Rockefeller said. Chronic diseases like diabetes are expensive to manage and, if left unaddressed, lead to additional health problems down the road. Our effort works to prevent and manage obesity and diabetes through increased access to prevention programs for Medicare and Medicaid subscribers. This will lead to greater health care savings and has the potential to improve overall health outcomes which will boost the productivity and well being of our communities. We all know that obesity and diabetes are two of the main drivers of poor health and increasing health care costs in our country, Carper said. If we do not rein in the growth of obesity and diabetes, this may be the first generation of Americans with a shorter life span than earlier generations. Overweight and obese patients are at increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and other adverse health outcomes. Spending on diabetes treatment alone is one of the fastest growing parts of Medicare. To get this epidemic under control, we need to ensure that Medicare covers the full range of therapies and treatments that m… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043128/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47806 | Grassley Joins Effort to Reverse Negative Impact of Whistleblower Court Case | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley joined Senator Jon Tester to introduce legislation to help lessen the impact of a federal court ruling (Kaplan v. Conyers) that would have a chilling effect on whistleblowers who help root out waste, fraud and abuse from within the federal government. In Kaplan v. Conyers, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed employment positions which are determined to be “sensitive” to national security or “non-critical sensitive” to national security, which means someone holding the position could have a negative effect on national security. The legislation seeks to rectify a part of Conyers by ensuring federal employees who have their positions deemed “sensitive” or “non-critical sensitive” are eligible to appeal the decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The Board hears appeals from civil service employees regarding merit system employment actions. Grassley said that without the ability to appeal a decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board, potential whistleblowers throughout the federal government will likely think twice about reporting wrongdoing. He said even if a federal employee’s current position is not considered sensitive, the court’s ruling may make an employee who blows the whistle fear that his or her position may be designated non-critical sensitive as a means of retaliation. Grassley initially wrote President Obama on September 4, 2013, asking him to clarify protections for federal whistleblowers after the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The White House has not responded to Grassley’s letter. “The Federal Circuit has historically been unsympathetic to whistleblowers, but the Conyers ruling is over the top. It’s essentially a death knell to whistleblowers who are simply trying to help root out waste, fraud and abuse,” Grassley said. “This legislation can help give whistleblowers assurances that their case will at least be heard by an independent board.” A long-time advocate for whistleblowers, in addition to co-authoring the 19… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043132/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47792 | Floor Speech of Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkis | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Floor Speech of Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkis Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee On the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security I have major concerns with Mr. Mayorkas’s nomination. First, I want to discuss how Mr. Mayorkas has carried out the President’s directive giving legal status to thousands of individuals who are in the United States unlawfully. In 2012, Mr. Mayorkas was charged with implementing this President’s directive, known as DACA. I have always questioned whether the President’s directive is legal. The administration never responded to our request for their legal basis and opinions. This administration has not been transparent about who is getting deferred action, how they are processing them, and whether those who have been denied have been processed for removal. They may call this program “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” but it clearly benefits older adults and possibly people who intentionally broke our laws. The agency didn’t deny a single applicant until after the 2012 election. We still don’t know how many people were actually denied. We do know, however, that people were approved despite shoddy evidence, such as an X-Box receipt and Facebook postings. They always seem to find a way to get an approval. And all denials for “DACA” have to be run through Washington. Adjudicators on the line were given clear instructions that they were not allowed to deny. Whistleblowers said that Mr. Mayorkas himself had to approve all denials. Think about that. No denial was allowed unless the head of the agency personally approved it. What kind of message does that send to the career employees trying to do their jobs impartially? The boss has his thumb on the scale. That isn’t the rule of law. Mr. Mayorkas’s message to adjudicators seems to have been that they had better “get to a yes” or he’d personally get involved. This “get to yes” ph… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043900/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47789 | Grassley Hopes to Include Pharmacists in Accountable Care Organizations | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said today he will look for opportunities to advance his proposal to include pharmacists in Medicare’s program encouraging providers to give coordinated, high quality care to their Medicare patients. “Pharmacists can play a critical role in coordinated health care,” Grassley said. “As Medicare moves toward payment policies that reward integrated care, we should recognize the role pharmacists play in encouraging adherence with doctors’ drug prescriptions.” Grassley filed an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would include pharmacists in Medicare programs encouraging Accountable Care Organizations. These are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who come together voluntarily to give coordinated, high quality care to their Medicare patients. The coordinated care is meant to achieve the right care, especially for chronically ill patients, while avoiding wasteful duplication and preventing medical errors. The organizations share in the savings they achieve for the Medicare program when they succeed in delivering high-quality care while avoiding wasteful duplication and spending. Medicare currently does not promote pharmacists’ participation in Accountable Care Organizations, even though pharmacists play a significant role in overseeing patients’ prescription adherence. Grassley said he will look for legislative opportunities to advance this proposal in the coming months. He also co-sponsored an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware encouraging the development of quality metrics related to medication adherence. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043906/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47784 | Grassley, Bennet Look to Advance Provision for Children with Medically Complex Conditions | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley, Bennet Look to Advance Provision for Children with Medically Complex ConditionsWASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said today they will look for ways to advance their provision to better coordinate care for children with complex medical conditions under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), leading to better care and health for these children. “Considering creative models to promote better outcomes for children with medically complex conditions is something we need to explore in the future,” Grassley said. “Working with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office, I hope we can move these ideas forward.” “Kids in Colorado and around the country deserve doctors and hospitals that have every tool and resource they need to help them get better,” Bennet said. “We need to explore ways that we can ensure kids are getting the seamless care they deserve. We’ll continue to work closely with the Senate Finance Committee to get this signed into law.” Grassley, Bennet and seven other bipartisan members of the Finance Committee sponsored an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in committee last week that would establish under the Medicaid program and Children’s Health Insurance Program an accountable care collaborative providing a network of services to children with medically complex conditions. The amendment, which was offered and withdrawn, establishes a Medicaid Children’s Care Coordination Program for children with complex medical conditions that would provide services through nationally designated children’s hospital networks. Medically Complex Children are defined as those who are included in Clinical Risk Groups (CRG) 5b-9. The CRG methodology is a well-documented and accepted manner of classifying pediatric patients and their diagnoses nationally and can be adopted for these purposes easily. Patients in these groups have significant lifelong chronic diseases, limitin… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043911/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47800 | Grassley Statement at Patent Trolls Hearing | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on “Protecting Small Businesses and Promoting Innovation by Limiting Patent Troll Abuse” Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing today. The United States is a global leader in innovating, creating and developing new technologies and products. Intellectual property protection plays a critical role in supporting technological advances, innovation and creativity. Patents and the U.S. patent system are a significant component of the American tradition of invention and innovation. However, the innovation and creativity that patents are supposed to protect is being threatened by purposely evasive and deceptive blanket demand letters and abusive litigation practices. According to one study, lawsuits by patent assertion entities have increased at an alarming rate – in fact, 62% of all patent lawsuits filed in 2012 were cases brought by patent assertion entities. Patent litigation abuse imposes high costs on American businesses, wasting precious resources that could instead be utilized for research, development, job creation and economic growth. Patent assertion entities, also known as patent trolls, focus on buying and asserting patents, rather than on developing or commercializing patented inventions. Patent trolls often assert these weak or poorly-granted patents against companies that are already utilizing technologies as ubiquitous as wireless email, digital video streaming and the internet. These entities frequently carry out their tactics behind the shield of patent holding subsidiaries, affiliates and shells of operating companies. Patent troll lawsuits rarely have merit: the statistics are they lose 92% of merits judgments. But the extent of the problem cannot be quantified by looking at these numbers alone. Most cases don’t even get to this stage. Patent assertion entities usually set their royalty demands strategically below litigation costs. … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043916/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47780 | Grassley: Budget Deal Promotes Too Much Spending | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | For Immediate Release December 17, 2013 Grassley: Budget Deal Promotes Too Much Spending Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on his vote against proceeding to the Senate vote on the House-Senate budget deal and his intention to vote against the legislation on final passage.“While I appreciate the bipartisan effort that brokered this budget deal, I can’t support the proposal. It spends an additional $63 billion over the next two years when we have a $17 trillion debt. To offset that higher spending, it raises revenue over ten years but spends that money in the first two years. It raises fees on air travelers and corporate pension premiums and reduces retirement benefits for military retirees to offset unrelated spending. Nearly all of the meager spending cuts come way down the road, in 2022 and 2023. To get our fiscal house in order, we should at least abide by the spending caps put in place in August 2011 that provided a $2.1 trillion increase in the nation’s debt ceiling. This budget deal emphasizes that Congress has a spending problem.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043921/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47777 | Grassley, Wyden Look to Advance Provision to Improve Independence for Young Medicaid Beneficiaries with Disabilities | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley, Wyden Look to Advance Provision to Improve Independence for Young Medicaid Beneficiaries with DisabilitiesWASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said today they will look for ways to advance their provision to improve independent living and community employment for teen-age and young adult Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities. “We should use the power of the Medicaid and Medicare programs to improve options for people with disabilities,” Grassley said. “Our proposal promotes creativity and coordination to improve outcomes for these individuals. I look forward to continuing to work with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office to make it a reality.” “There have been too many stories of disabled individuals being taken advantage of in the workplace,” Wyden said. “Our proposal encourages states to use creative and innovative approaches to improve employment equity and help young people with disabilities become as independent and successful as possible.” Grassley and Wyden sponsored an amendment, which was offered and withdrawn, to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would create Medicaid bonuses for states that think creatively in coordinating services for the disabled across several programs – including vocational rehabilitation, education, housing, and transportation – that lead to more independent living and employment within the community. The proposal is directed at individuals ages 14 to 30 years old. Grassley and Wyden said Medicaid and Medicare are such major programs that they can and should help drive better outcomes for the participating individuals. The amendment took the approach of using Medicaid funding to create incentives to increase opportunities for youth with disabilities. With more coordination of health care and support services than exists now, Medicaid could lead to improved health for individuals with disabilities that could lead to independent living and employ… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044442/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47803 | Grassley Statement at Hearing on The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to Justice | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley Statement at Hearing on The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to JusticePrepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on “The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to Justice: Will Recent Supreme Court Decisions Undermine the Rights of Consumers, Workers, and Small Businesses?” Tuesday, December 16, 2013. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. It’s always helpful to have experts in particular areas of the law come here to testify. I expect we’ll learn a great deal today from our panel of witnesses. The Federal Arbitration Act was enacted in 1925 “in response to widespread judicial hostility to arbitration agreements.” Courts have held that the Federal Arbitration Act reflects the fundamental principle that arbitration is a matter of contract. And the Supreme Court, as we’ll discuss today, has said that courts are to place arbitration agreements on equal footing with other contracts. We find arbitration agreements in many consumer contracts. These form contracts used in cell phone service agreements or credit card agreements routinely include an arbitration clause. Sometimes we read these agreements; sometimes we don’t. But then again, form contracts have long outnumbered custom drafted contracts. So this isn’t something new. As with anything, there are pros and cons to arbitration clauses. We’ll hear about both today. I expect we’ll also hear that businesses, in the wake of recent Supreme Court cases, still must decide whether to include arbitration clauses in their user agreements. Despite the predictions from some that arbitration clauses would become the default position. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. Particularly, I look forward to testimony explaining what we can expect following the Supreme Court’s decision in the American Express case. Absent class action provisions, will consumers really lack an ability to have their dispute adjudicated? Also, what direction will we see … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/floor-speech-sen-chuck-grassley-nomination-alejandro-mayorkis | Floor Speech of Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkis | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Floor Speech of Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkis Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of IowaRanking Member, Senate Judiciary CommitteeOn the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security I have major concerns with Mr. Mayorkas's nomination. First, I want to discuss how Mr. Mayorkas has carried out the President's directive giving legal status to thousands of individuals who are in the United States unlawfully. In 2012, Mr. Mayorkas was charged with implementing this President's directive, known as DACA. I have always questioned whether the President's directive is legal. The administration never responded to our request for their legal basis and opinions. This administration has not been transparent about who is getting deferred action, how they are processing them, and whether those who have been denied have been processed for removal. They may call this program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals but it clearly benefits older adults and possibly people who intentionally broke our laws. The agency didn't deny a single applicant until after the 2012 election. We still don't know how many people were actually denied. We do know, however, that people were approved despite shoddy evidence, such as an X-Box receipt and Facebook postings. They always seem to find a way to get an approval. And all denials for DACA have to be run through Washington. Adjudicators on the line were given clear instructions that they were not allowed to deny. Whistleblowers said that Mr. Mayorkas himself had to approve all denials. Think about that. No denial was allowed unless the head of the agency personally approved it. What kind of message does that send to the career employees trying to do their jobs impartially? The boss has his thumb on the scale. That isn't the rule of law. Mr. Mayorkas's message to adjudicators seems to have been that they had better get to a yes or he'd personally get involved. This get to yes philosophy came up time and… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-bennet-look-advance-provision-children-medically-complex-conditions | Grassley, Bennet Look to Advance Provision for Children with Medically Complex Conditions | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley, Bennet Look to Advance Provision for Children with Medically Complex Conditions WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said today they will look for ways to advance their provision to better coordinate care for children with complex medical conditions under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), leading to better care and health for these children. Considering creative models to promote better outcomes for children with medically complex conditions is something we need to explore in the future, Grassley said. Working with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office, I hope we can move these ideas forward. Kids in Colorado and around the country deserve doctors and hospitals that have every tool and resource they need to help them get better, Bennet said. We need to explore ways that we can ensure kids are getting the seamless care they deserve. We'll continue to work closely with the Senate Finance Committee to get this signed into law. Grassley, Bennet and seven other bipartisan members of the Finance Committee sponsored an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in committee last week that would establish under the Medicaid program and Children's Health Insurance Program an accountable care collaborative providing a network of services to children with medically complex conditions. The amendment, which was offered and withdrawn, establishes a Medicaid Children's Care Coordination Program for children with complex medical conditions that would provide services through nationally designated children's hospital networks. Medically Complex Children are defined as those who are included in Clinical Risk Groups (CRG) 5b-9. The CRG methodology is a well-documented and accepted manner of classifying pediatric patients and their diagnoses nationally and can be adopted for these purposes easily. Patients in these groups have significant lifelong chronic diseases, limiting the probability of churning i… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-budget-deal-promotes-too-much-spending | Grassley: Budget Deal Promotes Too Much Spending | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on his vote against proceeding to the Senate vote on the House-Senate budget deal and his intention to vote against the legislation on final passage.While I appreciate the bipartisan effort that brokered this budget deal, I can't support the proposal. It spends an additional $63 billion over the next two years when we have a $17 trillion debt. To offset that higher spending, it raises revenue over ten years but spends that money in the first two years. It raises fees on air travelers and corporate pension premiums and reduces retirement benefits for military retirees to offset unrelated spending. Nearly all of the meager spending cuts come way down the road, in 2022 and 2023. To get our fiscal house in order, we should at least abide by the spending caps put in place in August 2011 that provided a $2.1 trillion increase in the nation's debt ceiling. This budget deal emphasizes that Congress has a spending problem. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-hopes-include-pharmacists-accountable-care-organizations | Grassley Hopes to Include Pharmacists in Accountable Care Organizations | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said today he will look for opportunities to advance his proposal to include pharmacists in Medicare's program encouraging providers to give coordinated, high quality care to their Medicare patients. Pharmacists can play a critical role in coordinated health care, Grassley said. As Medicare moves toward payment policies that reward integrated care, we should recognize the role pharmacists play in encouraging adherence with doctors' drug prescriptions. Grassley filed an amendment to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would include pharmacists in Medicare programs encouraging Accountable Care Organizations. These are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who come together voluntarily to give coordinated, high quality care to their Medicare patients. The coordinated care is meant to achieve the right care, especially for chronically ill patients, while avoiding wasteful duplication and preventing medical errors. The organizations share in the savings they achieve for the Medicare program when they succeed in delivering high-quality care while avoiding wasteful duplication and spending. Medicare currently does not promote pharmacists' participation in Accountable Care Organizations, even though pharmacists play a significant role in overseeing patients' prescription adherence. Grassley said he will look for legislative opportunities to advance this proposal in the coming months. He also co-sponsored an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware encouraging the development of quality metrics related to medication adherence. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-hearing-federal-arbitration-act-and-access-justice | Grassley Statement at Hearing on The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to Justice | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley Statement at Hearing on The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to Justice Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on The Federal Arbitration Act and Access to Justice: Will Recent Supreme Court Decisions Undermine the Rights of Consumers, Workers, and Small Businesses? Tuesday, December 16, 2013. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. It's always helpful to have experts in particular areas of the law come here to testify. I expect we'll learn a great deal today from our panel of witnesses. The Federal Arbitration Act was enacted in 1925 in response to widespread judicial hostility to arbitration agreements. Courts have held that the Federal Arbitration Act reflects the fundamental principle that arbitration is a matter of contract. And the Supreme Court, as we'll discuss today, has said that courts are to place arbitration agreements on equal footing with other contracts. We find arbitration agreements in many consumer contracts. These form contracts used in cell phone service agreements or credit card agreements routinely include an arbitration clause. Sometimes we read these agreements; sometimes we don't. But then again, form contracts have long outnumbered custom drafted contracts. So this isn't something new. As with anything, there are pros and cons to arbitration clauses. We'll hear about both today. I expect we'll also hear that businesses, in the wake of recent Supreme Court cases, still must decide whether to include arbitration clauses in their user agreements. Despite the predictions from some that arbitration clauses would become the default position. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. Particularly, I look forward to testimony explaining what we can expect following the Supreme Court's decision in the American Express case. Absent class action provisions, will consumers really lack an ability to have their dispute adjudicated? Also, what direction will we see arbitration clauses move going fo… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-patent-trolls-hearing | Grassley Statement at Patent Trolls Hearing | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Protecting Small Businesses and Promoting Innovation by Limiting Patent Troll Abuse Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing today. The United States is a global leader in innovating, creating and developing new technologies and products. Intellectual property protection plays a critical role in supporting technological advances, innovation and creativity. Patents and the U.S. patent system are a significant component of the American tradition of invention and innovation. However, the innovation and creativity that patents are supposed to protect is being threatened by purposely evasive and deceptive blanket demand letters and abusive litigation practices. According to one study, lawsuits by patent assertion entities have increased at an alarming rate in fact, 62% of all patent lawsuits filed in 2012 were cases brought by patent assertion entities. Patent litigation abuse imposes high costs on American businesses, wasting precious resources that could instead be utilized for research, development, job creation and economic growth. Patent assertion entities, also known as patent trolls, focus on buying and asserting patents, rather than on developing or commercializing patented inventions. Patent trolls often assert these weak or poorly-granted patents against companies that are already utilizing technologies as ubiquitous as wireless email, digital video streaming and the internet. These entities frequently carry out their tactics behind the shield of patent holding subsidiaries, affiliates and shells of operating companies. Patent troll lawsuits rarely have merit: the statistics are they lose 92% of merits judgments. But the extent of the problem cannot be quantified by looking at these numbers alone. Most cases don't even get to this stage. Patent assertion entities usually set their royalty demands strategically below litigation costs. Consequently, compan… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-wyden-look-advance-provision-improve-independence-young-medicaid | Grassley, Wyden Look to Advance Provision to Improve Independence for Young Medicaid Beneficiaries with Disabilities | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley, Wyden Look to Advance Provision to Improve Independence for Young Medicaid Beneficiaries with Disabilities WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said today they will look for ways to advance their provision to improve independent living and community employment for teen-age and young adult Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities. We should use the power of the Medicaid and Medicare programs to improve options for people with disabilities, Grassley said. Our proposal promotes creativity and coordination to improve outcomes for these individuals. I look forward to continuing to work with the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Congressional Budget Office to make it a reality. There have been too many stories of disabled individuals being taken advantage of in the workplace, Wyden said. Our proposal encourages states to use creative and innovative approaches to improve employment equity and help young people with disabilities become as independent and successful as possible. Grassley and Wyden sponsored an amendment, which was offered and withdrawn, to the physician payments bill considered in the Finance Committee last week that would create Medicaid bonuses for states that think creatively in coordinating services for the disabled across several programs including vocational rehabilitation, education, housing, and transportation that lead to more independent living and employment within the community. The proposal is directed at individuals ages 14 to 30 years old. Grassley and Wyden said Medicaid and Medicare are such major programs that they can and should help drive better outcomes for the participating individuals. The amendment took the approach of using Medicaid funding to create incentives to increase opportunities for youth with disabilities. With more coordination of health care and support services than exists now, Medicaid could lead to improved health for individuals with disabilities that could lead to independent living and employment. Grassley… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043139/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47768 | Grassley, Reed Seeks Answers on Expungement of Investor Complaints | 2013-12-16 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to protect investors and the integrity of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) BrokerCheck program, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today sent a bipartisan letter asking FINRA to clarify and strengthen standards for expungement of investor complaints against brokers. Citing a recent Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) study, which found that FINRA arbitrators granted expungement relief in 96.9% of cases from May 2009 through December 2011, the U.S. Senators said they are concerned about the number of times investor complaints may be expunged, or removed, from publicly available broker records maintained by FINRA via BrokerCheck. The Senators wrote: “We share FINRA’s view that ‘expungement is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted only under appropriate circumstances,’ and that it should be permitted ‘only when it has no meaningful investor protection or regulatory value.’ However, we believe that meaningful investor protection includes the disclosure of whether a customer dispute was settled. Not just for transparency sake, but also to help prospective investors make informed decisions about which individuals or firms with whom to do business.” In an effort to determine if the high percentage of expungements are warranted, the Senators asked FINRA to publicly detail the number of instances in which FINRA has questioned or challenged the provision of expungement relief and provide a detailed description of the circumstances of each case. The Senators also asked FINRA to respond to the recommended changes cited in the PIABA study and explain whether FINRA intends to adopt each recommendation. Full text of the letter follows (PDF attached here): December 16, 2013 Mr. Richard G. Ketchum Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Financial Industry Regulatory Authority 1735 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Dear Mr. Ketchum: Given our interest in improving transparency of our financial markets, we are writing in res… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221050107/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47772 | Grassley Comments on Investment in Wind Energy | 2013-12-16 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley today commented on the announcement by MidAmerican Energy Company that it plans to add up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa by year-end 2015, which would include up to 448 new wind turbines, in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O’Brien and Webster counties. All of the blades for the expansion will be manufactured in Fort Madison, according to MidAmerican. Grassley comment: “This sort of extraordinary investment in wind-energy production emphasizes the value and success of the federal production tax credit. Wind energy continues to prove that it’s a force in America’s energy supply by delivering clean, renewable power. Wind energy comes from local farms, it’s for local customers and, most often, it adds investment value to local communities. Wind energy makes sense for America’s future.” Background information: A Grassley amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 established the production tax credit for wind energy. The idea behind Senator Grassley’s proposal was to try to level the playing field with coal-fired and nuclear electricity generation. Today, the wind-energy industry supports 75,000 jobs nationwide. Iowa ranks third among every state for wind production, and there are 6,000 wind-energy related jobs in Iowa. Under the wind-energy production tax credit, which Senator Grassley has worked successfully to extend numerous times, producers are eligible for a tax credit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a qualified project during the first 10 years of operations. Right now, the tax credit is 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. This tax credit is available only when wind energy is produced, so it’s tax relief that rewards results. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-comments-investment-wind-energy | Grassley Comments on Investment in Wind Energy | 2013-12-16 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley today commented on the announcement by MidAmerican Energy Company that it plans to add up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation in Iowa by year-end 2015, which would include up to 448 new wind turbines, in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O'Brien and Webster counties. All of the blades for the expansion will be manufactured in Fort Madison, according to MidAmerican. Grassley comment: This sort of extraordinary investment in wind-energy production emphasizes the value and success of the federal production tax credit. Wind energy continues to prove that it's a force in America's energy supply by delivering clean, renewable power. Wind energy comes from local farms, it's for local customers and, most often, it adds investment value to local communities. Wind energy makes sense for America's future. Background information: A Grassley amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 established the production tax credit for wind energy. The idea behind Senator Grassley's proposal was to try to level the playing field with coal-fired and nuclear electricity generation. Today, the wind-energy industry supports 75,000 jobs nationwide. Iowa ranks third among every state for wind production, and there are 6,000 wind-energy related jobs in Iowa. Under the wind-energy production tax credit, which Senator Grassley has worked successfully to extend numerous times, producers are eligible for a tax credit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a qualified project during the first 10 years of operations. Right now, the tax credit is 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. This tax credit is available only when wind energy is produced, so it's tax relief that rewards results. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-reed-seeks-answers-expungement-investor-complaints | Grassley, Reed Seeks Answers on Expungement of Investor Complaints | 2013-12-16 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, DC In an effort to protect investors and the integrity of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) BrokerCheck program, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today sent a bipartisan letter asking FINRA to clarify and strengthen standards for expungement of investor complaints against brokers. Citing a recent Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) study, which found that FINRA arbitrators granted expungement relief in 96.9% of cases from May 2009 through December 2011, the U.S. Senators said they are concerned about the number of times investor complaints may be expunged, or removed, from publicly available broker records maintained by FINRA via BrokerCheck. The Senators wrote: We share FINRA's view that expungement is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted only under appropriate circumstances,' and that it should be permitted only when it has no meaningful investor protection or regulatory value.' However, we believe that meaningful investor protection includes the disclosure of whether a customer dispute was settled. Not just for transparency sake, but also to help prospective investors make informed decisions about which individuals or firms with whom to do business. In an effort to determine if the high percentage of expungements are warranted, the Senators asked FINRA to publicly detail the number of instances in which FINRA has questioned or challenged the provision of expungement relief and provide a detailed description of the circumstances of each case. The Senators also asked FINRA to respond to the recommended changes cited in the PIABA study and explain whether FINRA intends to adopt each recommendation. Full text of the letter follows (PDF attached here): December 16, 2013 Mr. Richard G. Ketchum Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Financial Industry Regulatory Authority 1735 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Dear Mr. Ketchum: Given our interest in improving transparency of our financial markets, we are writing in response to a… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043143/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47758 | Q&A on the IRS Commissioner | 2013-12-13 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Q: Will new leadership at the IRS fix the agency’s recent problems? A: As the tax collector-in-chief for the federal treasury, the Internal Revenue Service and its commissioner bear a Herculean task to administer and enforce a tax code blanketing a nation of 300-plus million citizens. Regrettably, the agency’s efforts to uphold the public trust have fallen far short of heroism by any definition. Considering its core mission is to serve the taxpaying public, the beleaguered agency has substantial fence-mending to tend to after a number of self-inflicted scandals. These include the flagrant misuse of tax dollars for lavish conferences and repressive targeting of taxpayers during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. That extra scrutiny was directed towards groups seeking tax-exempt status and whose political views primarily differed from the current administration. Now the IRS has proposed new rules that would impose new restrictions on political speech by these same tax-exempt social welfare organizations, while providing an exemption for tax-exempt labor unions. The proposal ought to raise a red flag to all those interested in engaging and educating the public about elections. Throughout my decades of public service, I have worked to foster greater participation among the electorate, not less. The next commissioner of the IRS should not allow the agency to undermine constitutional principles of free speech and civic engagement. With its thicket of tax laws, rules and regulations covering individuals, households, businesses, non-profit charities and tax-exempt organizations, the federal agency by any measure has a tall order to fill. Unfortunately, the IRS has flunked fundamental metrics of accountability and transparency. In an era of federal deficits lined up as far as the eye can see, the IRS must work effectively to help close the fiscal gap through principles of good governance, sound stewardship of tax dollars and faithful execution of collecting taxes owed. Due to its spate of scandals, the IRS … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qa-irs-commissioner | Q&A on the IRS Commissioner | 2013-12-13 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Q: Will new leadership at the IRS fix the agency's recent problems? A: As the tax collector-in-chief for the federal treasury, the Internal Revenue Service and its commissioner bear a Herculean task to administer and enforce a tax code blanketing a nation of 300-plus million citizens. Regrettably, the agency's efforts to uphold the public trust have fallen far short of heroism by any definition. Considering its core mission is to serve the taxpaying public, the beleaguered agency has substantial fence-mending to tend to after a number of self-inflicted scandals. These include the flagrant misuse of tax dollars for lavish conferences and repressive targeting of taxpayers during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. That extra scrutiny was directed towards groups seeking tax-exempt status and whose political views primarily differed from the current administration. Now the IRS has proposed new rules that would impose new restrictions on political speech by these same tax-exempt social welfare organizations, while providing an exemption for tax-exempt labor unions. The proposal ought to raise a red flag to all those interested in engaging and educating the public about elections. Throughout my decades of public service, I have worked to foster greater participation among the electorate, not less. The next commissioner of the IRS should not allow the agency to undermine constitutional principles of free speech and civic engagement. With its thicket of tax laws, rules and regulations covering individuals, households, businesses, non-profit charities and tax-exempt organizations, the federal agency by any measure has a tall order to fill. Unfortunately, the IRS has flunked fundamental metrics of accountability and transparency. In an era of federal deficits lined up as far as the eye can see, the IRS must work effectively to help close the fiscal gap through principles of good governance, sound stewardship of tax dollars and faithful execution of collecting taxes owed. Due to its spate of scandals, the IRS now also must w… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043150/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47751 | Grassley Child Welfare Provisions Advance Via Committee | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | For Immediate Release December 12, 2013 Grassley Child Welfare Provisions Advance Via Committee WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today received bipartisan committee approval for his child welfare policy improvements including promoting sibling connections in foster care and strengthening child support enforcement. “Child welfare experts tell you and common sense tells you children benefit when they’re kept together and have strong relationships,” Grassley said. “This legislation removes barriers to federal law that prevent families of siblings from knowing when a child is placed in foster care or siblings from losing ties when parental rights are terminated. This will help maintain sibling relationships and in turn help the kids. “The child support provisions help states recover money that family courts have determined is owed to custodial parents. We ought to do more to make sure money owed gets to the parents and children who need and deserve it. Child support enforcement helps make sure families are strong and independent.” The Finance Committee approved the Grassley provisions as part of broad child welfare legislation, the Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013. The sibling provisions are based on the Sibling Connections Act introduced by Grassley and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia this week. The Sibling Connections Act follows the example of at least five states, including Iowa, that have passed legislation or regulation that recognizes the parents of siblings as “relatives” for foster care placement. That means the parents of a child’s siblings are notified when the child enters foster care, allowing the adult guardians to try to maintain the sibling relationships. Also, the bill corrects the current situation in which siblings lose their status as siblings when their parents’ rights are terminated. The loss of sibling status undermines the requirement of the landmark Fostering Connections law that siblings be placed together whenever possib… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043157/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47748 | Grassley Health Care Provisions Advance in Key Committee Bill | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today received key committee approval of his measures to increase fair treatment of Iowa doctors in Medicare, improve spending for health care oversight, and increase the transparency of Medicare payments to doctors, among other measures. “These provisions increase value and transparency in federal health care programs,” Grassley said. “It’s important to advance bipartisan measures that make Medicare and Medicaid work better for beneficiaries and taxpayers.” Grassley filed amendments that were accepted during the Finance Committee’s consideration of a Medicare physician payment bill. Grassley amendments passed by the committee include: --A provision to provide for the improved use of funds received by the Department Health and Human Services for oversight and investigative activities. The department’s Office of the Inspector General protects the integrity of HHS programs and the health and welfare of the people they serve. The inspector general’s office is responsible for providing oversight of nearly $1 trillion in HHS spending oversight, or about $0.24 of every federal dollar. Its responsibilities have grown with expanded programs including the Affordable Care Act. Grassley’s provision allows the inspector general to receive and retain three percent of all collections pursuant to civil debt collection actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare program. --A provision to help Iowa providers who are geographically disadvantaged by Medicare compared to those in other areas of the country. Under current law, the Medicare fee schedule is adjusted geographically for three factors to reflect differences in the cost of resources needed to produce physician services: physician work, practice expense, and medical malpractice insurance. The Grassley amendment makes permanent the existing floor 1.0 on the physician work index under the Medicare physician fee schedule, which helps Iowa providers receive fair reimbursement relative… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043201/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47737 | Internal Memo Outlines National Security Concerns with EB-5 Immigration Program | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today pressed the administration for answers about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo that raises significant national security questions about the EB-5 visa program, which is an avenue for foreign investors to participate in potential, new commercial enterprises in the United States in exchange for a U.S. visa. The memo was written by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director John Sandweg, Grassley wrote, “The HSI memo makes clear that overall, HSI believes the Regional Center model has significant flaws…” Grassley also said the memo identified several areas of vulnerability within the EB-5 visa program. The memo questioned whether the vulnerabilities could be fixed in order to “ensure the integrity of the program.” Grassley was especially concerned about a section of the memo that outlines how the EB-5 program “may be abused by Iranian operatives to infiltrate the United States.” According to the memo, HSI became concerned about the program while investigating operatives who allegedly “facilitate terrorism and are involved in an illicit procurement network that exports items to Iran...” Here’s a copy of the text of Grassley’s letter to Sandweg. A copy of the memo and letter can be found here. December 12, 2013 VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION John Sandweg Acting Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement U.S. Department of Homeland Security 500 12th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20536 Dear Acting Director Sandweg: I write to inquire about an internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo that raises significant questions about U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS’s) EB-5 Regional Center program. The memo is from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of ICE. It appears to have been written in response to a request from Secretary Janet Na… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043428/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47742 | Grassley Joins Iowa Governor, Congressional Delegation in Seeking Iowa Hearing on Proposed Reductions to the Renewable Fuel Standard | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley Joins Iowa Governor, Congressional Delegation in Seeking Iowa Hearing on Proposed Reductions to the Renewable Fuel StandardWASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today joined the Iowa governor, lieutenant governor, Iowa secretary of agriculture and the entire state congressional delegation in expressing strong opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuel Standard and seeking a federal hearing in Iowa to allow federal officials to hear directly from Iowans on the proposed change. “Too often, federal agencies make major policy changes without considering the people and the economies affected,” Grassley said. “The Environmental Protection Agency regularly falls in that category. Now, supporters of clean, homegrown, green energy and forward-thinking energy policy are united in letting the Obama Administration know that its proposal is short-sighted and irresponsible, and that the Administration should hear from Midwesterners before making such a sweeping policy change.” The bipartisan letter to President Obama, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack was signed by Grassley, Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Tom Harkin, Congressmen Tom Latham, Steve King, Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. The letter is available here. More on Grassley’s views on the proposed reduction is available here. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221050436/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47734 | Medicare Payment Transparency Provisions Advancing | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded inclusion of language that would make Medicare claims data available to the public as part of legislation addressing Medicare’s physician payment formula. Both the House and Senate versions of legislation addressing the Medicare physician payment formula include the key provisions from Grassley and Wyden’s Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act (Medicare DATA Act). This would establish a free, searchable Medicare payment database that would be readily available to the public online at no cost. The database would include all payments made to physicians by Medicare. Patients’ privacy would be fully protected, and providers would have an opportunity to correct payment information before it is posted online. “Transparency draws in the public and invites analysis of policy and spending,” Grassley said. “More transparency has made a difference in accountability in the tax-exempt sector, and it does the same wherever it’s applied in health care.” “Healthcare, particularly Medicare, is notorious for its lack of transparency,” Wyden said. “Allowing the public to finally see where Medicare dollars are being spent creates a powerful check against waste and a valuable research tool for improving care for seniors.” Under current law, access to the Medicare payment database is limited to a small number of bureaucrats and academics despite a federal judge’s ruling in favor of greater public access. The text of the Medicare DATA Act is available here. Grassley’s statement on the bill introduction is available here. Wyden’s statement on the bill introduction is available here. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-child-welfare-provisions-advance-committee | Grassley Child Welfare Provisions Advance Via Committee | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today received bipartisan committee approval for his child welfare policy improvements including promoting sibling connections in foster care and strengthening child support enforcement. Child welfare experts tell you and common sense tells you children benefit when they're kept together and have strong relationships, Grassley said. This legislation removes barriers to federal law that prevent families of siblings from knowing when a child is placed in foster care or siblings from losing ties when parental rights are terminated. This will help maintain sibling relationships and in turn help the kids. The child support provisions help states recover money that family courts have determined is owed to custodial parents. We ought to do more to make sure money owed gets to the parents and children who need and deserve it. Child support enforcement helps make sure families are strong and independent. The Finance Committee approved the Grassley provisions as part of broad child welfare legislation, the Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013. The sibling provisions are based on the Sibling Connections Act introduced by Grassley and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia this week. The Sibling Connections Act follows the example of at least five states, including Iowa, that have passed legislation or regulation that recognizes the parents of siblings as relatives for foster care placement. That means the parents of a child's siblings are notified when the child enters foster care, allowing the adult guardians to try to maintain the sibling relationships. Also, the bill corrects the current situation in which siblings lose their status as siblings when their parents' rights are terminated. The loss of sibling status undermines the requirement of the landmark Fostering Connections law that siblings be placed together whenever possible. The child support enforcement measures are drawn from legislation from Grassley and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey. Provisions from their bill that… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-health-care-provisions-advance-key-committee-bill | Grassley Health Care Provisions Advance in Key Committee Bill | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today received key committee approval of his measures to increase fair treatment of Iowa doctors in Medicare, improve spending for health care oversight, and increase the transparency of Medicare payments to doctors, among other measures. These provisions increase value and transparency in federal health care programs, Grassley said. It's important to advance bipartisan measures that make Medicare and Medicaid work better for beneficiaries and taxpayers. Grassley filed amendments that were accepted during the Finance Committee's consideration of a Medicare physician payment bill. Grassley amendments passed by the committee include: --A provision to provide for the improved use of funds received by the Department Health and Human Services for oversight and investigative activities. The department's Office of the Inspector General protects the integrity of HHS programs and the health and welfare of the people they serve. The inspector general's office is responsible for providing oversight of nearly $1 trillion in HHS spending oversight, or about $0.24 of every federal dollar. Its responsibilities have grown with expanded programs including the Affordable Care Act. Grassley's provision allows the inspector general to receive and retain three percent of all collections pursuant to civil debt collection actions related to false claims or frauds involving the Medicare program. --A provision to help Iowa providers who are geographically disadvantaged by Medicare compared to those in other areas of the country. Under current law, the Medicare fee schedule is adjusted geographically for three factors to reflect differences in the cost of resources needed to produce physician services: physician work, practice expense, and medical malpractice insurance. The Grassley amendment makes permanent the existing floor 1.0 on the physician work index under the Medicare physician fee schedule, which helps Iowa providers receive fair reimbursement relative to their peers in other parts of … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-joins-iowa-governor-congressional-delegation-seeking-iowa-hearing | Grassley Joins Iowa Governor, Congressional Delegation in Seeking Iowa Hearing on Proposed Reductions to the Renewable Fuel Standard | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley Joins Iowa Governor, Congressional Delegation in Seeking Iowa Hearing on Proposed Reductions to the Renewable Fuel Standard WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today joined the Iowa governor, lieutenant governor, Iowa secretary of agriculture and the entire state congressional delegation in expressing strong opposition to the Obama Administration's proposed reduction in the Renewable Fuel Standard and seeking a federal hearing in Iowa to allow federal officials to hear directly from Iowans on the proposed change. Too often, federal agencies make major policy changes without considering the people and the economies affected, Grassley said. The Environmental Protection Agency regularly falls in that category. Now, supporters of clean, homegrown, green energy and forward-thinking energy policy are united in letting the Obama Administration know that its proposal is short-sighted and irresponsible, and that the Administration should hear from Midwesterners before making such a sweeping policy change. The bipartisan letter to President Obama, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack was signed by Grassley, Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Tom Harkin, Congressmen Tom Latham, Steve King, Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. The letter is available here. More on Grassley's views on the proposed reduction is available here. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/internal-memo-outlines-national-security-concerns-eb-5-immigration-program | Internal Memo Outlines National Security Concerns with EB-5 Immigration Program | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today pressed the administration for answers about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo that raises significant national security questions about the EB-5 visa program, which is an avenue for foreign investors to participate in potential, new commercial enterprises in the United States in exchange for a U.S. visa. The memo was written by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director John Sandweg, Grassley wrote, The HSI memo makes clear that overall, HSI believes the Regional Center model has significant flaws Grassley also said the memo identified several areas of vulnerability within the EB-5 visa program. The memo questioned whether the vulnerabilities could be fixed in order to ensure the integrity of the program. Grassley was especially concerned about a section of the memo that outlines how the EB-5 program may be abused by Iranian operatives to infiltrate the United States. According to the memo, HSI became concerned about the program while investigating operatives who allegedly facilitate terrorism and are involved in an illicit procurement network that exports items to Iran... Here's a copy of the text of Grassley's letter to Sandweg. A copy of the memo and letter can be found here. December 12, 2013 VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION John Sandweg Acting Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement U.S. Department of Homeland Security 500 12th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20536 Dear Acting Director Sandweg: I write to inquire about an internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo that raises significant questions about U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS's) EB-5 Regional Center program. The memo is from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of ICE. It appears to have been written in response to a request from Secretary Janet Napolitano. One section… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/medicare-payment-transparency-provisions-advancing | Medicare Payment Transparency Provisions Advancing | 2013-12-12 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded inclusion of language that would make Medicare claims data available to the public as part of legislation addressing Medicare's physician payment formula. Both the House and Senate versions of legislation addressing the Medicare physician payment formula include the key provisions from Grassley and Wyden's Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act (Medicare DATA Act). This would establish a free, searchable Medicare payment database that would be readily available to the public online at no cost. The database would include all payments made to physicians by Medicare. Patients' privacy would be fully protected, and providers would have an opportunity to correct payment information before it is posted online. Transparency draws in the public and invites analysis of policy and spending, Grassley said. More transparency has made a difference in accountability in the tax-exempt sector, and it does the same wherever it's applied in health care. Healthcare, particularly Medicare, is notorious for its lack of transparency, Wyden said. Allowing the public to finally see where Medicare dollars are being spent creates a powerful check against waste and a valuable research tool for improving care for seniors. Under current law, access to the Medicare payment database is limited to a small number of bureaucrats and academics despite a federal judge's ruling in favor of greater public access. The text of the Medicare DATA Act is available here. Grassley's statement on the bill introduction is available here. Wyden's statement on the bill introduction is available here. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043206/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47729 | Child Support Measures from Grassley, Menendez in Broad Bill Advancing in Committee | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Child Support Measures from Grassley, Menendez in Broad Bill Advancing in CommitteeWASHINGTON – Measures from Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Robert Menendez of New Jersey to strengthen child support enforcement are included in broad child welfare legislation scheduled for consideration in the Finance Committee this week. “The provisions help states recover money that family courts have determined is owed to custodial parents,” Grassley said. “We ought to do more to make sure money owed gets to the parents and children who need and deserve it. Child support enforcement helps make sure families are strong and independent.” The Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013 is scheduled for committee consideration on Thursday. The measure includes the following provisions from the Menendez-Grassley bill, the Strengthen and Vitalize Enforcement of Child Support (SAVE Child Support) Act, S. 508, introduced in March: --Requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to use federal and, if necessary, state child support enforcement methods to ensure compliance with any U.S. treaty obligations associated with any multilateral child support convention to which the United States is a party. --Requires states, in order to receive federal funding, to implement amendments made by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. --Expands access to the Federal Parent Locator Service to assist states in locating noncustodial parents, putative fathers, and custodial parties to ensure compliance with their child support obligations. A description of the chairman’s version, or mark, of the Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013 is available here. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043212/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47726 | Grassley on Review of NASA/H211 Hangar Leasing, Fuel Purchases | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on a review from the NASA inspector general examining allegations of improper leasing of a hangar and aircraft fuel purchases between NASA’s Ames Research Center and H211, a private company that manages aircraft owned or leased by Google executives. Grassley has looked into the arrangement amid allegations of poor management by the government to taxpayers’ detriment. “I’m glad the NASA inspector general was able to clear up some of the questions surrounding NASA and Google. I also have asked the Defense Department inspector general to take a broader look at these fuel contracts. Given that a ‘misunderstanding’ between NASA and the Defense Department led to taxpayers’ losing out on $3.3 million to $5.3 million in this one contract, a look at these arrangements as a whole is definitely warranted. The inspector general recommends that NASA explore ‘remedies.’ The obvious remedy would be for NASA to seek repayment to the taxpayers for the fuel benefit. If NASA fails to pursue this option and make taxpayers whole, it’s hard to imagine how NASA would justify such a corporate giveaway.” The inspector general review is available here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043224/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47723 | Grassley Statement at the Oversight Hearing of Government Surveillance Authorities | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley Statement at the Oversight Hearing of Government Surveillance AuthoritiesPrepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on “Continued Oversight of U.S. Government Surveillance Authorities” Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today’s hearing on the continued oversight of the government’s surveillance authorities. This topic has been the subject of ongoing media attention and constituent interest. We last held a hearing on this important topic in early October. Since then, reports have continued to surface in the media about possible overreach on the part of the government. Some of these reports may be more accurate than others. But I continue to believe that many of them call into serious question whether the law and other safeguards currently in place strike the right balance between protecting our civil liberties and our national security. This is especially so concerning the public revelation that under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the government is collecting Americans’ phone metadata in bulk. Why are many Americans so concerned? Well, it isn’t hard to find an example of what can happen to Americans’ personal information when the government overreaches, mismanages, and fails the American people. It’s been over two months since the Administration tried to bring the Obamacare website on-line. And the American people are suffering under Obamacare. Many are finding they can’t keep the insurance plans they liked. Their premiums are rising. And uncertainty is growing about which parts of the law the President will decide to uphold. But in just these few months, we have already seen reports of incidents where Obamacare hasn’t adequately protected Americans’ personal data. In one reported instance in Minnesota, an insurance broker was accidentally provided the personal information of 2,400 people. Moreover, there are many unanswered questions about the Obamacare website’s ability to protect privacy going… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/child-support-measures-grassley-menendez-broad-bill-advancing-committee | Child Support Measures from Grassley, Menendez in Broad Bill Advancing in Committee | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Child Support Measures from Grassley, Menendez in Broad Bill Advancing in Committee WASHINGTON Measures from Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Robert Menendez of New Jersey to strengthen child support enforcement are included in broad child welfare legislation scheduled for consideration in the Finance Committee this week. The provisions help states recover money that family courts have determined is owed to custodial parents, Grassley said. We ought to do more to make sure money owed gets to the parents and children who need and deserve it. Child support enforcement helps make sure families are strong and independent. The Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013 is scheduled for committee consideration on Thursday. The measure includes the following provisions from the Menendez-Grassley bill, the Strengthen and Vitalize Enforcement of Child Support (SAVE Child Support) Act, S. 508, introduced in March: --Requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to use federal and, if necessary, state child support enforcement methods to ensure compliance with any U.S. treaty obligations associated with any multilateral child support convention to which the United States is a party. --Requires states, in order to receive federal funding, to implement amendments made by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. --Expands access to the Federal Parent Locator Service to assist states in locating noncustodial parents, putative fathers, and custodial parties to ensure compliance with their child support obligations. A description of the chairman's version, or mark, of the Supporting At-Risk Children Act of 2013 is available here. -30- | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-review-nasah211-hangar-leasing-fuel-purchases | Grassley on Review of NASA/H211 Hangar Leasing, Fuel Purchases | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on a review from the NASA inspector general examining allegations of improper leasing of a hangar and aircraft fuel purchases between NASA's Ames Research Center and H211, a private company that manages aircraft owned or leased by Google executives. Grassley has looked into the arrangement amid allegations of poor management by the government to taxpayers' detriment. I'm glad the NASA inspector general was able to clear up some of the questions surrounding NASA and Google. I also have asked the Defense Department inspector general to take a broader look at these fuel contracts. Given that a misunderstanding' between NASA and the Defense Department led to taxpayers' losing out on $3.3 million to $5.3 million in this one contract, a look at these arrangements as a whole is definitely warranted. The inspector general recommends that NASA explore remedies.' The obvious remedy would be for NASA to seek repayment to the taxpayers for the fuel benefit. If NASA fails to pursue this option and make taxpayers whole, it's hard to imagine how NASA would justify such a corporate giveaway. The inspector general review is available here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-oversight-hearing-government-surveillance-authorities | Grassley Statement at the Oversight Hearing of Government Surveillance Authorities | 2013-12-11 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley Statement at the Oversight Hearing of Government Surveillance Authorities Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Continued Oversight of U.S. Government Surveillance Authorities Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today's hearing on the continued oversight of the government's surveillance authorities. This topic has been the subject of ongoing media attention and constituent interest. We last held a hearing on this important topic in early October. Since then, reports have continued to surface in the media about possible overreach on the part of the government. Some of these reports may be more accurate than others. But I continue to believe that many of them call into serious question whether the law and other safeguards currently in place strike the right balance between protecting our civil liberties and our national security. This is especially so concerning the public revelation that under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the government is collecting Americans' phone metadata in bulk. Why are many Americans so concerned? Well, it isn't hard to find an example of what can happen to Americans' personal information when the government overreaches, mismanages, and fails the American people. It's been over two months since the Administration tried to bring the Obamacare website on-line. And the American people are suffering under Obamacare. Many are finding they can't keep the insurance plans they liked. Their premiums are rising. And uncertainty is growing about which parts of the law the President will decide to uphold. But in just these few months, we have already seen reports of incidents where Obamacare hasn't adequately protected Americans' personal data. In one reported instance in Minnesota, an insurance broker was accidentally provided the personal information of 2,400 people. Moreover, there are many unanswered questions about the Obamacare website's ability to protect privacy going forward. Now, I e… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044051/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47712 | Grassley, Kaine Introduce Bill to Improve Sibling Connections in Child Welfare System | 2013-12-10 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley, Kaine Introduce Bill to Improve Sibling Connections in Child Welfare SystemWASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia today introduced legislation to improve sibling connections in the child welfare system. “Child welfare experts tell you and common sense tells you children benefit when they’re kept together and have strong relationships,” Grassley said. “Our bill removes barriers to federal law that prevent families of siblings from knowing when a child is placed in foster care or siblings from losing ties when parental rights are terminated. This will help maintain sibling relationships and in turn help the kids.” “Ensuring that children in the child welfare system remain connected to their siblings provides them with continuity and support,” said Kaine. “My wife Anne is a longtime advocate for foster children and during my term as Governor we successfully strengthened permanent family connections for older children in foster care through the ‘For Keeps’ initiative and increased funding to recruit more foster and adoptive parents. Today I’m proud to introduce the Sibling Connections Act that will keep brothers and sisters together and result in fewer emotional and behavioral problems down the line." Grassley and Kaine said the Grassley-authored Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 made great strides to improve child welfare but several obstacles impede sibling relationships. The Sibling Connections Act introduced today follows the example of at least five states, including Iowa, that have passed legislation or regulation that recognizes the parents of siblings as “relatives” for foster care placement. That means the parents of a child’s siblings are notified when the child enters foster care, allowing the adult guardians to try to maintain the sibling relationships. Also, the Grassley-Kaine bill would correct the current situation in which siblings lose their status as siblings when their parents’ rights are terminated. The loss of… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-kaine-introduce-bill-improve-sibling-connections-child-welfare-system | Grassley, Kaine Introduce Bill to Improve Sibling Connections in Child Welfare System | 2013-12-10 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Grassley, Kaine Introduce Bill to Improve Sibling Connections in Child Welfare System WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia today introduced legislation to improve sibling connections in the child welfare system. Child welfare experts tell you and common sense tells you children benefit when they're kept together and have strong relationships, Grassley said. Our bill removes barriers to federal law that prevent families of siblings from knowing when a child is placed in foster care or siblings from losing ties when parental rights are terminated. This will help maintain sibling relationships and in turn help the kids. Ensuring that children in the child welfare system remain connected to their siblings provides them with continuity and support, said Kaine. My wife Anne is a longtime advocate for foster children and during my term as Governor we successfully strengthened permanent family connections for older children in foster care through the For Keeps' initiative and increased funding to recruit more foster and adoptive parents. Today I'm proud to introduce the Sibling Connections Act that will keep brothers and sisters together and result in fewer emotional and behavioral problems down the line." Grassley and Kaine said the Grassley-authored Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 made great strides to improve child welfare but several obstacles impede sibling relationships. The Sibling Connections Act introduced today follows the example of at least five states, including Iowa, that have passed legislation or regulation that recognizes the parents of siblings as relatives for foster care placement. That means the parents of a child's siblings are notified when the child enters foster care, allowing the adult guardians to try to maintain the sibling relationships. Also, the Grassley-Kaine bill would correct the current situation in which siblings lose their status as siblings when their parents' rights are terminated. The loss of sibling status un… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043254/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47689 | Q&A on Military Reform | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Grassley News Grassley: U.S. Military Academy Selects Waukee Student... Read More >> Grassley: U.S. Naval Academy Selects Cedar Rapids Student... Read More >> | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043924/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47694 | Funding the Nation's Common Defense | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Among the objectives named in the preamble of the Constitution, the Founders specified one of the primary responsibilities of governance for the newly formed republic is to provide for the nation’s common defense. For more than two centuries, the United States of America has protected its borders, people, international commerce and national security backed up by a civilian controlled military funded by the taxpaying public. Our system of checks and balances works to keep the military under civilian control. The Constitution specifies the president serves as commander in chief. The people’s branch appropriates and the executive branch spends money to provide for the Armed Services. This dual authority works to ensure the military serves, not subverts, we the people. Since our nation’s founding, policymakers have debated the merits of the size, scope and strategy of the nation’s military. Between the White House and Congress, presidents and lawmakers have used the strength of the U.S. military to maintain peace, protect and defend the blessings of freedom and provide for national security. Generations of Americans owe a debt of gratitude to those who have served in the Armed Forces, putting their lives on the line and often separating from their families to serve, defend and protect. Although the U.S. military serves a critical role in upholding the nation’s common defense, lawmakers should not issue blank checks to the Department of Defense. In fact, my longstanding crusade to protect the taxpaying public has exposed serious financial mismanagement at the Pentagon that undermines military readiness and exposes cultural, systemic flaws that weaken this critical institution of the federal government. Protecting the taxpaying public and providing for the nation’s common defense are not mutually exclusive. Too many people in Washington think that throwing more money at something will solve the world’s problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Congress works to dia… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044453/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47706 | Post Nuclear Option Grassley Floor Statement on Patricia Millett | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee On the nomination of Patricia Millett for the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday, December 9, 2013 Mr. President, Approximately 6 months ago, on June 4, 2013, the President simultaneously nominated three nominees for the D.C. Circuit. Everyone knew then, just as they know now, that these judges aren’t needed. The D.C. Circuit has the lowest caseload in the country by far, based on the standards the Democrats established just a few years ago when a Republican was in the White House. In fact, the caseload on the D.C. Circuit is so low that on April 10, 2013, approximately two months prior to these nominations, I introduced legislation – together with every Republican on the Judiciary Committee – to eliminate one seat on the D.C. Circuit and move two others to different circuits. That would be the sensible way to address this issue. Don’t spend $1 million in taxpayer dollars per year, per judge, on judgeships that aren’t needed. Especially when the judges currently on the court say “if any more judges were added now, there wouldn’t be enough work to go around.” Don’t waste $3 million a year. Instead, simply move the seats to where they’re needed. That would be the sensible and good government approach. But being sensible and good stewards of taxpayer dollars isn’t what the other side had in mind when they hatched this scheme. Far from it. No, the Administration’s motive here was clear from the beginning. They knew they couldn’t pass their liberal agenda through a divided congress. The American people had already rejected that agenda at the ballot box. But the Administration, of course, still runs the federal agencies. And through the agencies, the Administration can ignore the will of the American people and continue to pursue its job-killing agenda. It doesn’t matter that the American people don’t want their government to pass Cap and Trade fee increases, the A… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044506/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47703 | Extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement on extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988. “The Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, which expires today, is an important law to make sure that guns are discovered by a metal detector. The safety of airplanes or federal buildings or similar places would be threatened if their metal detectors could not identify guns. The only way to make sure the current prohibition of plastic guns remained in place was for the Senate to pass the 10-year extension cleared last week by the House. “It’s unfortunate that politics have been played with this law. If the majority wanted to change the law, there should have been hearings and an attempt to learn the evolving technology. Instead, at the last minute the Senate Majority attempted to force changes by ramming through legislation that was only revealed today. Supporters of an alternative proposal that has not been shown to be effective, technologically feasible, properly drafted, or able to pass the House deliberately bypassed a responsible process.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/extending-undetectable-firearms-act-1988 | Extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement on extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988. The Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, which expires today, is an important law to make sure that guns are discovered by a metal detector. The safety of airplanes or federal buildings or similar places would be threatened if their metal detectors could not identify guns. The only way to make sure the current prohibition of plastic guns remained in place was for the Senate to pass the 10-year extension cleared last week by the House. It's unfortunate that politics have been played with this law. If the majority wanted to change the law, there should have been hearings and an attempt to learn the evolving technology. Instead, at the last minute the Senate Majority attempted to force changes by ramming through legislation that was only revealed today. Supporters of an alternative proposal that has not been shown to be effective, technologically feasible, properly drafted, or able to pass the House deliberately bypassed a responsible process. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/funding-nation%E2%80%99s-common-defense | Funding the Nations Common Defense | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Among the objectives named in the preamble of the Constitution, the Founders specified one of the primary responsibilities of governance for the newly formed republic is to provide for the nation's common defense. For more than two centuries, the United States of America has protected its borders, people, international commerce and national security backed up by a civilian controlled military funded by the taxpaying public. Our system of checks and balances works to keep the military under civilian control. The Constitution specifies the president serves as commander in chief. The people's branch appropriates and the executive branch spends money to provide for the Armed Services. This dual authority works to ensure the military serves, not subverts, we the people. Since our nation's founding, policymakers have debated the merits of the size, scope and strategy of the nation's military. Between the White House and Congress, presidents and lawmakers have used the strength of the U.S. military to maintain peace, protect and defend the blessings of freedom and provide for national security. Generations of Americans owe a debt of gratitude to those who have served in the Armed Forces, putting their lives on the line and often separating from their families to serve, defend and protect. Although the U.S. military serves a critical role in upholding the nation's common defense, lawmakers should not issue blank checks to the Department of Defense. In fact, my longstanding crusade to protect the taxpaying public has exposed serious financial mismanagement at the Pentagon that undermines military readiness and exposes cultural, systemic flaws that weaken this critical institution of the federal government. Protecting the taxpaying public and providing for the nation's common defense are not mutually exclusive. Too many people in Washington think that throwing more money at something will solve the world's problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Congress works to dial back the s… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/post-nuclear-option-grassley-floor-statement-patricia-millett | Post Nuclear Option Grassley Floor Statement on Patricia Millett | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee On the nomination of Patricia Millett for the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday, December 9, 2013 Mr. President, Approximately 6 months ago, on June 4, 2013, the President simultaneously nominated three nominees for the D.C. Circuit. Everyone knew then, just as they know now, that these judges aren't needed. The D.C. Circuit has the lowest caseload in the country by far, based on the standards the Democrats established just a few years ago when a Republican was in the White House. In fact, the caseload on the D.C. Circuit is so low that on April 10, 2013, approximately two months prior to these nominations, I introduced legislation together with every Republican on the Judiciary Committee to eliminate one seat on the D.C. Circuit and move two others to different circuits. That would be the sensible way to address this issue. Don't spend $1 million in taxpayer dollars per year, per judge, on judgeships that aren't needed. Especially when the judges currently on the court say if any more judges were added now, there wouldn't be enough work to go around. Don't waste $3 million a year. Instead, simply move the seats to where they're needed. That would be the sensible and good government approach. But being sensible and good stewards of taxpayer dollars isn't what the other side had in mind when they hatched this scheme. Far from it. No, the Administration's motive here was clear from the beginning. They knew they couldn't pass their liberal agenda through a divided congress. The American people had already rejected that agenda at the ballot box. But the Administration, of course, still runs the federal agencies. And through the agencies, the Administration can ignore the will of the American people and continue to pursue its job-killing agenda. It doesn't matter that the American people don't want their government to pass Cap and Trade fee increases, the Administration will simply for… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qa-military-reform | Q&A on Military Reform | 2013-12-09 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Q: What's held up the Defense Authorization bill?A: Action stalled in November on the $625 billion defense bill because the Democratic leader refused to agree on allowing additional amendments, beyond those he supports, to be considered during floor debate. This time the legislative logjam affects national security and U.S. troops. In addition to military funding that would be authorized, the bill gives lawmakers an opportunity to legislate policy reforms. Throughout this year I have laid bipartisan groundwork to advance measures designed to strengthen morale among our men and women in uniform. A recent Pentagon study surveyed 100,000 active-duty service members. It found 26,000 members experienced offenses ranging from sexual harassment to sexual assault. Fewer than 3,400 reported the incidents. These numbers reflect a failure of leadership among the top brass to address an issue that has raised questions about the culture of the U.S. military since the 1991 Tailhook scandal two decades ago. The survey suggests the chain of command is unwilling or unable to address this sensitive issue when more than one-quarter of respondents experienced sexual misconduct, but less than four percent stepped forward to report it. Policymakers can't afford to allow a culture of sexual misconduct to continue harming our troops and the military's reputation. Doing so would add up to bigger problems that damage recruitment, retention and readiness. Q: What are the bipartisan reforms you are championing to combat sexual misconduct within the military? A: The first is called the Military Whistleblower Protection Act. This amendment would beef up laws intended to protect those who report sexual assault, fraud or other misconduct within the military. Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing should not result in retaliation and victimization of those who come forward to tell the truth. It would extend reporting rules from 60 days to one year and require corrective relief to victims and discipline measures for those who retaliate. It would in… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20131216075832/http://www.grassley.senate.gov:80/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47673 | Increase in Federal Contractor Salaries Highlights Need for Legislative Fix | 2013-12-06 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of four U.S. Senators today released the following statement expressing their objections with the newly increased allowable level for taxpayer-funded contractor compensation: “We are deeply troubled by the December 4 announcement by the Office of Management and Budget that the benchmark compensation cap for Federal Government contractors would automatically increase from $763,029 to $952,308, retroactive to January 2012, as required by statute. In the interest of fiscal responsibility and fairness, we remain strongly committed to bringing the allowable level of taxpayer-funded contractor compensation to a figure that makes common sense to the American people. If we do nothing, this figure could rise to $1.6 million by fiscal year 2020. Congress should pass our bipartisan legislative fix (S.1192) as soon as possible to avoid this affront to the taxpayers in the future.” The statement was signed by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Joe Manchin III (D-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Jon Tester (D-MT), who have sponsored the Commonsense Contractor Compensation Act of 2013. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/increase-federal-contractor-salaries-highlights-need-legislative-fix | Increase in Federal Contractor Salaries Highlights Need for Legislative Fix | 2013-12-06 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. A bipartisan group of four U.S. Senators today released the following statement expressing their objections with the newly increased allowable level for taxpayer-funded contractor compensation: We are deeply troubled by the December 4 announcement by the Office of Management and Budget that the benchmark compensation cap for Federal Government contractors would automatically increase from $763,029 to $952,308, retroactive to January 2012, as required by statute. In the interest of fiscal responsibility and fairness, we remain strongly committed to bringing the allowable level of taxpayer-funded contractor compensation to a figure that makes common sense to the American people. If we do nothing, this figure could rise to $1.6 million by fiscal year 2020. Congress should pass our bipartisan legislative fix (S.1192) as soon as possible to avoid this affront to the taxpayers in the future. The statement was signed by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Joe Manchin III (D-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Jon Tester (D-MT), who have sponsored the Commonsense Contractor Compensation Act of 2013. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| http://loebsack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364006 | Loebsack: With Iowa’s Priorities Sitting on the Table, Congress Cannot Recess Until the Work is Finished | 2013-12-04 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Democrat | House | IA | Dave Loebsack | L000565 | loebsack.house.gov | legacy | Congressman Dave Loebsack today demanded that the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, keep the House in session until it completes all of the work that the American people are demanding get done. Some of Iowan’s top priorities, including the Farm Bill, extension of both the Production Tax Credit for Wind and Medicare provisions important to rural hospitals, a Sustainable Growth Rate fix, and the Water Infrastructure bill, remain in limbo. Also awaiting action is the National Defense Authorization Act, which contains provisions important for the workers at the Rock Island Arsenal, as well as a comprehensive budget agreement to create jobs and grow the economy. Between today and the end of the year, the House is only scheduled to be in session for a total of 6 days. “Rather than sending Members of Congress home for vacation after only a total of nine work days since Thanksgiving, it is imperative that you keep the House of Representatives in session and voting every day to complete the pressing work of the American people,” Loebsack wrote in a letter to Speaker Boehner. “The list of unfinished business is long and continues to grow. To put it simply – with so much work left to do after months of partisan fighting, that last thing Congress deserves is a vacation. Turning off the lights and putting a “closed for business” sign on the Capitol is irresponsible and shameful. I call you on to keep the House in session and working every day to get the work of the American people done.”A copy of the letter can be found here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| http://loebsack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363276 | VIDEO: Loebsack Continues Fight for Access to Pell Grants, Affordable College Opportunities | 2013-12-03 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Democrat | House | IA | Dave Loebsack | L000565 | loebsack.house.gov | legacy | Congressman Dave Loebsack today continued his fight to expand access to higher education by strengthening the Pell Grant program, which supports low income students, in a thoughtful, strategic way. As a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Loebsack has championed numerous pieces of legislation to increase access to higher education and specifically Pell Grants. He authored a provision that created the year-round Pell program in the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was signed into law in 2008. “As someone who was raised in poverty by a single mother, I would not have had the opportunity to attend college without aid similar to the Pell Grant. In today’s economy, many jobs require additional education beyond a high school diploma. The Pell Grant Program serves as a vital link for low-income students who want to go to college to better themselves and position themselves to achieve the American Dream. I am committed to fighting for a balanced approach to protect the long-term solvency of the Pell Grant program that ensures student’s benefits are not cut.” Video of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training hearing on Pell Grant is available here. Other Loebsack higher education initiatives include: • College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) Loebsack helped craft and pass this legislation, which makes college more affordable and accessible for all Iowans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant scholarship and expanding eligibility; • Year Round Pell Grants Loebsack authored a provision that created year-round Pell grants in the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was signed into law in 2008. However, the year-round Pell grant was unfortunately eliminated in 2011. In response to the ongoing need for more flexibility, Loebsack partnered with Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) to introduce legislation which would reinstate the flexibility that was provided by Loebsack’s provision in 2008. • Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibi… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/epa-bypasses-rule-making-procedures-gets-caught | EPA Bypasses Rule-making Procedures, Gets Caught | 2013-12-03 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Federal rule-making procedures are important for holding the federal government accountable to the public. Federal agencies wield tremendous power. The way they decide to interpret and enforce federal law through rules and regulations has significant ramifications for the affected parties, whether individuals, business owners or state and local governments. These federal rules have the effect of law, but those who develop them are not elected. The only way average citizens can impact the process is through the federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act mandating that agencies solicit public comments before instituting a new rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently provided a case study of why federal rule-making procedures matter. The EPA bypassed basic rule-making procedures to enforce new restrictions on wastewater treatment. The restrictions are expensive for city and county governments and, consequently, for local taxpayers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit invalidated the EPA's action on procedural grounds. The appeals court decided the agency changed its policy without public notice and without seeking public comment, as required by law. Now, the EPA says it will implement that decision only in the 8th Circuit. It will not enforce the new rules in the states in the 8th Circuit. The agency will continue to enforce its guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a formal rule, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, in the rest of the country. The EPA tried to violate basic rule-making procedures and got caught. Now, the agency is enforcing the violation everywhere except for the court circuit where it lost its case. This isn't the way to conduct agency business. The rules are in place for good reason. They're meant to keep the public involved and informed of major decision-making and hold agencies accountability for their actions. As Americans, we pride ourselves on setting and following the rule of law. An agency that flouts the law undermines public … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/report-shows-possible-audit-misconduct-defense-department | Report Shows Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department | 2013-12-03 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | It appears that the Defense Department's flagship accounting agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), is suffering its own audit woes, despite receiving clean bills of health on its own financial statements from an outside qualified government auditor. Adding insult to injury, the Office of the Inspector General (IG), an office that is supposed to be independent and tasked with conducting oversight of the Defense Department and the agencies within the department, seems to have turned a blind eye to the problems within the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. It looks like the IG buckled under pressure from the DFAS when attempting to conduct oversight of the troubled agency's financial statements. Because of all the bungling and ethical missteps on these audits, the independence and integrity of the Inspector General's audit process may have been compromised. It came to my attention in April 2012, when I began receiving allegations of misconduct regarding the Defense Finance and Accounting Service opinion audits. My office then initiated a review of official records of those audits with the guidance of Certified Public Accounting-qualified government auditors. My findings are outlined in a letter and staff oversight report that I forwarded on Nov. 22 to both Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Defense Department Inspector General Jon Rymer. Discoveries in documents, when coupled with verbal and written interviews of knowledgeable officials, tell the story of what really happened. And it's not a pretty picture. If this snapshot is characteristic of the work being produced by that office, we have a problem. Audits are a primary oversight tool for rooting out fraud and waste in the government. To protect taxpayers, these government audits must be as good as they can be. Effective audit reporting is the key to pinpointing long-standing accounting deficiencies that allow waste and theft to go undetected and unchecked. Hard-hitting audits should help senior management apply mandated cuts where the… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/strengthening-military-whistleblower-protections | Strengthening Military Whistleblower Protections | 2013-12-03 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | As the Senate debates the Defense Authorization bill, I introduced with several colleagues an amendment to strengthen military whistleblower protection laws to ensure those who report sexual assault and other misconduct are not further victimized by retaliation. There's plenty of evidence that military personnel have an unbelievably difficult time when blowing the whistle on misconduct, fraud or even sexual assault. Too often, these complaints get tossed into the garbage for no good reason. Retaliation seems to be the norm rather than the exception. The simple changes in our amendment can make a big difference for whistleblowers. The bipartisan Military Whistleblower Protection Act would extend whistleblower protections to witnesses as well as victims, and ensures action is taken both to provide corrective relief to victims of retaliation and to discipline those who retaliate. It also extends the current 60-day period to file a report to one year, bringing it more in line with other federal and contractor whistleblowers who have longer reporting periodsoften up to three years to report misconduct. Finally, it requires the service branches to actively support those with confirmed cases of retaliation by submitting their request to clean up their records to the Board for Military Correction of Records, rather than leaving that responsibility solely on victims to accomplish on their own. A Government Accountability Office audit reported that more than 60 percent of service members who reported sexual assaults in 2012 experienced retaliation. Less than 1 percent of whistleblowers who filed reprisal complaints obtained relief, and only 19 percent of those who the Inspector Generals' certified had experienced retaliation ever got their records corrected. Additionally, a Pentagon study released in May 2013 and based on a confidential survey sent to more than 100,000 active-duty service members found as many as 26,000 members of the military experienced offenses ranging from sexual harassment to sexual assault last year.… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20131217114610/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47640 | Unfinished Business | 2013-12-02 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | During the tugs of war that crop up in Washington during political debates and policymaking, it’s not surprising the act of legislating has often been compared to the art of sausage making. The give-and-take that has long characterized the legislative meat grinder on Capitol Hill has been put on the chopping block. Consider an analogy attributed long ago to George Washington. He compared the bicameral functions of the upper and lower chambers of Congress to a cooling saucer and hot coffee. America’s first president suggested the Senate “cools” legislation passed by the more tumultuous House of Representatives. Skip ahead two centuries and regrettably, heated tempers were not allowed to cool in the deliberative senatorial saucer during a recent rule change in the U.S. Senate. Instead of cooling his heels, the Majority Leader booted the institutional traditions and decorum associated with the upper chamber of Congress. His cavalier power grab leaves a stain on the world’s greatest deliberative governing body, weakening its tradition for civility and consensus. Despite the discouraging setback that meddles with the constitutional principles of the Senate’s advice and consent authority, important legislative and oversight work continues as we near the end of the calendar year. Unfinished business includes the budget blueprint and the farm and food bill. Working under the shadow of a $17 trillion national debt, lawmakers need to come to grips with the fact that Washington cannot tax-and-spend its way to prosperity. As a member of the budget conference tasked with a Dec. 13 deadline, I want the committee to reach an agreement that will set spending parameters for the federal government through the next fiscal year. So far, big spenders keep trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole, hooked on a utopian mindset that Big Government can solve all our problems. Just look where that’s gotten us: unsustainable spending, broken promises and a cynical American public. Washington also keeps kicking the can down … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043259/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47635 | EPA Bypasses Rule-making Procedures, Gets Caught | 2013-12-02 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Federal rule-making procedures are important for holding the federal government accountable to the public. Federal agencies wield tremendous power. The way they decide to interpret and enforce federal law through rules and regulations has significant ramifications for the affected parties, whether individuals, business owners or state and local governments. These federal rules have the effect of law, but those who develop them are not elected. The only way average citizens can impact the process is through the federal law – called the Administrative Procedure Act – mandating that agencies solicit public comments before instituting a new rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently provided a case study of why federal rule-making procedures matter. The EPA bypassed basic rule-making procedures to enforce new restrictions on wastewater treatment. The restrictions are expensive for city and county governments and, consequently, for local taxpayers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit invalidated the EPA’s action on procedural grounds. The appeals court decided the agency changed its policy without public notice and without seeking public comment, as required by law. Now, the EPA says it will implement that decision only in the 8th Circuit. It will not enforce the new rules in the states in the 8th Circuit. The agency will continue to enforce its guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a formal rule, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, in the rest of the country. The EPA tried to violate basic rule-making procedures and got caught. Now, the agency is enforcing the violation everywhere except for the court circuit where it lost its case. This isn’t the way to conduct agency business. The rules are in place for good reason. They’re meant to keep the public involved and informed of major decision-making and hold agencies accountability for their actions. As Americans, we pride ourselves on setting and following the rule of law. An agency that flouts… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043304/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47632 | Report Shows Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department | 2013-12-02 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | It appears that the Defense Department’s flagship accounting agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), is suffering its own audit woes, despite receiving clean bills of health on its own financial statements from an outside qualified government auditor. Adding insult to injury, the Office of the Inspector General (IG), an office that is supposed to be independent and tasked with conducting oversight of the Defense Department and the agencies within the department, seems to have turned a blind eye to the problems within the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. It looks like the IG buckled under pressure from the DFAS when attempting to conduct oversight of the troubled agency’s financial statements. Because of all the bungling and ethical missteps on these audits, the independence and integrity of the Inspector General’s audit process may have been compromised. It came to my attention in April 2012, when I began receiving allegations of misconduct regarding the Defense Finance and Accounting Service opinion audits. My office then initiated a review of official records of those audits with the guidance of Certified Public Accounting-qualified government auditors. My findings are outlined in a letter and staff oversight report that I forwarded on Nov. 22 to both Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Defense Department Inspector General Jon Rymer. Discoveries in documents, when coupled with verbal and written interviews of knowledgeable officials, tell the story of what really happened. And it’s not a pretty picture. If this snapshot is characteristic of the work being produced by that office, we have a problem. Audits are a primary oversight tool for rooting out fraud and waste in the government. To protect taxpayers, these government audits must be as good as they can be. Effective audit reporting is the key to pinpointing long-standing accounting deficiencies that allow waste and theft to go undetected and unchecked. Hard-hitting audits should help senior management apply mandated cuts… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044515/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47629 | Strengthening Military Whistleblower Protections | 2013-12-02 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | As the Senate debates the Defense Authorization bill, I introduced with several colleagues an amendment to strengthen military whistleblower protection laws to ensure those who report sexual assault and other misconduct are not further victimized by retaliation. There’s plenty of evidence that military personnel have an unbelievably difficult time when blowing the whistle on misconduct, fraud or even sexual assault. Too often, these complaints get tossed into the garbage for no good reason. Retaliation seems to be the norm rather than the exception. The simple changes in our amendment can make a big difference for whistleblowers. The bipartisan Military Whistleblower Protection Act would extend whistleblower protections to witnesses as well as victims, and ensures action is taken both to provide corrective relief to victims of retaliation and to discipline those who retaliate. It also extends the current 60-day period to file a report to one year, bringing it more in line with other federal and contractor whistleblowers who have longer reporting periods—often up to three years to report misconduct. Finally, it requires the service branches to actively support those with confirmed cases of retaliation by submitting their request to clean up their records to the Board for Military Correction of Records, rather than leaving that responsibility solely on victims to accomplish on their own. A Government Accountability Office audit reported that more than 60 percent of service members who reported sexual assaults in 2012 experienced retaliation. Less than 1 percent of whistleblowers who filed reprisal complaints obtained relief, and only 19 percent of those who the Inspector Generals’ certified had experienced retaliation ever got their records corrected. Additionally, a Pentagon study released in May 2013 and based on a confidential survey sent to more than 100,000 active-duty service members found as many as 26,000 members of the military experienced offenses ranging from sexual harassment to sexual assault las… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/unfinished-business | Unfinished Business | 2013-12-02 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | During the tugs of war that crop up in Washington during political debates and policymaking, it's not surprising the act of legislating has often been compared to the art of sausage making. The give-and-take that has long characterized the legislative meat grinder on Capitol Hill has been put on the chopping block. Consider an analogy attributed long ago to George Washington. He compared the bicameral functions of the upper and lower chambers of Congress to a cooling saucer and hot coffee. America's first president suggested the Senate cools legislation passed by the more tumultuous House of Representatives. Skip ahead two centuries and regrettably, heated tempers were not allowed to cool in the deliberative senatorial saucer during a recent rule change in the U.S. Senate. Instead of cooling his heels, the Majority Leader booted the institutional traditions and decorum associated with the upper chamber of Congress. His cavalier power grab leaves a stain on the world's greatest deliberative governing body, weakening its tradition for civility and consensus. Despite the discouraging setback that meddles with the constitutional principles of the Senate's advice and consent authority, important legislative and oversight work continues as we near the end of the calendar year. Unfinished business includes the budget blueprint and the farm and food bill. Working under the shadow of a $17 trillion national debt, lawmakers need to come to grips with the fact that Washington cannot tax-and-spend its way to prosperity. As a member of the budget conference tasked with a Dec. 13 deadline, I want the committee to reach an agreement that will set spending parameters for the federal government through the next fiscal year. So far, big spenders keep trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole, hooked on a utopian mindset that Big Government can solve all our problems. Just look where that's gotten us: unsustainable spending, broken promises and a cynical American public. Washington also keeps kicking the can down the road on … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| http://loebsack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=362949 | Loebsack Leads Bipartisan Call for Budget Conference Committee to Strongly Support Meals on Wheels | 2013-11-26 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Democrat | House | IA | Dave Loebsack | L000565 | loebsack.house.gov | legacy | Congressmen Dave Loebsack recently led a bipartisan group calling on the leaders of the Budget Conference Committee, who are currently working to craft a long-term budget agreement, to include strong funding for Meals on Wheels and other Senior Nutrition Programs in any compromise they reach. The letter, which was signed by a bipartisan group of 48 Members of Congress, called on the Budget Conference Committee to ensure that Senior Nutrition Programs authorized under the Older Americans Act (OAA) are not further reduced from current levels. Due to cuts cause by sequestration earlier this year, Meals on Wheels and congregate programs across the country have been forced to cut meals served to seniors, eliminate staff positions, lower meal quality, reduce delivery days and/or close sites. The situation has been exacerbated by the economic downturn and increased numbers of seniors needing meals.“Our constituents and Americans across the country who rely on Senior Nutrition Programs are already experiencing the real, daily effects of sequestration-related cuts to these benefits. These cuts directly affect the health and well-being of our most vulnerable, frail and isolated senior constituents and prevent programs from maintaining services, much less meeting the needs of an aging population,” the Members of Congress wrote. “We urge you to do all you can to reverse sequestration-related cuts to the Senior Nutrition Programs that provide a lifeline to our elderly population. We must let congregate and home-delivered meal programs get back to work and allow those they serve to live with independence and dignity.”A copy of the letter can be found here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20131208225506/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47602 | Grassley Comments on USDA Breakdown of Actively Engaged Data | 2013-11-26 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture made available additional information about farm payments being received by general partnerships and joint ventures through people using the “active personal management only.” The figures are a more detailed look at information provided in a Government Accountability Office report that Grassley released last month. According to the GAO report, entities set up as General Partnerships received about $159 million while entities set up as Joint Ventures received $12 million in 2012 through extra ‘active personal management only’ persons. Click here to see the breakdown of the information by state provided by the Department of Agriculture. The amounts going to states through this loophole range from more than $52 million per year to nearly $1,000 per year. “More than $172 million went out the door in 2012 through this loophole. The data provided by the Department of Agriculture shows that the loophole is exploited by some states more than others. The loophole is closed in both the House and Senate bills, yet it’s still a discussion point. The United States has a $17 trillion debt, unsustainable entitlements, and record land prices, yet we’re hearing some members of Congress still don’t want to tighten the law that would do nothing more than prevent a few of the biggest, wealthiest farmers from exploiting taxpayers.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-comments-usda-breakdown-actively-engaged-data | Grassley Comments on USDA Breakdown of Actively Engaged Data | 2013-11-26 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Senator Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture made available additional information about farm payments being received by general partnerships and joint ventures through people using the active personal management only. The figures are a more detailed look at information provided in a Government Accountability Office report that Grassley released last month. According to the GAO report, entities set up as General Partnerships received about $159 million while entities set up as Joint Ventures received $12 million in 2012 through extra active personal management only' persons. Click here to see the breakdown of the information by state provided by the Department of Agriculture. The amounts going to states through this loophole range from more than $52 million per year to nearly $1,000 per year. More than $172 million went out the door in 2012 through this loophole. The data provided by the Department of Agriculture shows that the loophole is exploited by some states more than others. The loophole is closed in both the House and Senate bills, yet it's still a discussion point. The United States has a $17 trillion debt, unsustainable entitlements, and record land prices, yet we're hearing some members of Congress still don't want to tighten the law that would do nothing more than prevent a few of the biggest, wealthiest farmers from exploiting taxpayers. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043313/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47574 | EPA decision to continue violating Administrative Procedure Act | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to enforce guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a binding rule without going through the proper rulemaking process for all areas of the country except for the 8th Circuit, where it lost a court case. Earlier, the EPA confirmed it was enforcing the new requirement in correspondence with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit invalidated the EPA’s action, deciding that EPA changed its policy without notice and comment, as required by law. Now, the EPA says it will implement that decision only in the 8th Circuit. The agency will continue to enforce guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a formal rule, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, in the rest of the country. Sen. Grassley and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, have been critical of the EPA’s action. They made the following comments on the latest decision from the EPA. Grassley comment: “The EPA tried to violate basic rule-making procedures and got caught. Now, the agency is enforcing the violation everywhere except for the court circuit where it lost its case. This isn’t the way to conduct agency business. The rules are in place for good reason. They’re meant to keep the public involved and informed of major decision-making and hold agencies accountability for their decisions. The EPA should have followed the letter of the law.” Vitter comment: “The EPA is trying to sneak in a burdensome, new water treatment regulation despite the Courts ruling against them. They need to unambiguously and fairly apply the invalidation of this illegal water treatment regulation on a national level.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043320/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47568 | Obamacare Enrollment Date Shift Hides Key Information from Voters | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the Obamacare open enrollment date shift for next year. “Last night at 8:29, CMS put out a notice that it is shifting the start of open enrollment next year from October 1, 2014, to November 15, 2014. That means that if premiums go through the roof in the first year of Obamacare, no one will know about it until after the election. This is clearly a cynical political move by the Obama Administration to use extra-regulatory, by any means necessary tools to keep this program afloat and hide key information from voters. The Obama Administration ought to answer for this shift. The Administration is welcome to prove me wrong by committing to put out 2015 plan year premium rates by November 1, 2014.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043323/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47565 | Grassley Reports on Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the Department of Defense’s flagship accounting agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), likely did not earn clean opinions on its own financial statements despite claims to the contrary, putting the Secretary of Defense’s audit readiness initiative in jeopardy. In addition, the Office of the Inspector General (IG) seems to have turned a blind eye to the problems within the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The IG appears to have buckled under pressure from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service when it attempted to conduct oversight of the troubled agency’s financial statements required by the Chief Financial Officers Act. Because of all the bungling and ethical missteps on these audits, the independence and integrity of the Inspector General’s audit process may have been compromised. Grassley released the findings and recommendations in a staff oversight report. These have been forwarded to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Defense Department Inspector General Jon Rymer in a joint letter today. “Audits are a primary oversight tool for rooting out fraud and waste in the government. To protect taxpayers, these government audits must be as good as they can be,” Grassley said. “Effective audit reporting is the key to pinpointing long-standing accounting deficiencies that allow waste and theft to go undetected and unchecked. Hard-hitting audits should help senior management separate the wheat from the chaff and apply mandated cuts where they are needed most. But, as long as the Inspector General’s audit shop remains weak and ineffective, the probability of rooting out much fraud and waste during sequestration is very low. And, instead of helping identify where savings can be made, it looks like the Defense Finance and Accounting Service may be trying to hide its own problems by pretending their books are in order and then running roughshod over anybody who dares to question … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043329/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47558 | Q&A on FISA | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | web.archive.org | legacy | Q: What is FISA? A: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is more commonly known by its acronym FISA. The law sets the parameters by which America’s intelligence community may conduct physical and electronic surveillance of those suspected of espionage or terrorism. Until the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans likely were largely unaware of surveillance powers authorized by this federal law that was designed to protect U.S. national security and economic interests. More recently, FISA has made headlines due to controversial activities conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) over the last decade. Since 9/11 the NSA has cast a wide surveillance net that calls into question privacy protections and Fourth Amendment rights related to search and seizure, including a program through which it collects information about the telephone calls of Americans but not the content of the calls themselves. Q: What is at stake? A: An abundance of skepticism exists today among Americans about the size and scope of the federal government. The $17 trillion national debt represents unbridled tax and spending policies that allow the government to grow at the expense of the taxpaying public. The bungled rollout of the Affordable Care Act is arguably circus peanuts compared to the intrusive impact that the sweeping health care law’s mandates, penalties and taxes will have on job creation, economic growth and the taxpaying public. Likewise, the revelations leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden this summer have triggered considerable public debate and civil lawsuits that challenge the government’s authority to deploy sweeping surveillance measures at the expense of individual privacy. Our system of self-government counts upon the fundamental functions of checks and balances to make the government work of, by and for the people. The government’s fundamental mission to protect public safety, secure the homeland and uphold national security does not come with a license to ignore constitutional… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/epa-decision-continue-violating-administrative-procedure-act | EPA decision to continue violating Administrative Procedure Act | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to enforce guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a binding rule without going through the proper rulemaking process for all areas of the country except for the 8th Circuit, where it lost a court case. Earlier, the EPA confirmed it was enforcing the new requirement in correspondence with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit invalidated the EPA's action, deciding that EPA changed its policy without notice and comment, as required by law. Now, the EPA says it will implement that decision only in the 8th Circuit. The agency will continue to enforce guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a formal rule, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, in the rest of the country. Sen. Grassley and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, have been critical of the EPA's action. They made the following comments on the latest decision from the EPA. Grassley comment: The EPA tried to violate basic rule-making procedures and got caught. Now, the agency is enforcing the violation everywhere except for the court circuit where it lost its case. This isn't the way to conduct agency business. The rules are in place for good reason. They're meant to keep the public involved and informed of major decision-making and hold agencies accountability for their decisions. The EPA should have followed the letter of the law. Vitter comment: The EPA is trying to sneak in a burdensome, new water treatment regulation despite the Courts ruling against them. They need to unambiguously and fairly apply the invalidation of this illegal water treatment regulation on a national level. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-reports-possible-audit-misconduct-defense-department | Grassley Reports on Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the Department of Defense's flagship accounting agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), likely did not earn clean opinions on its own financial statements despite claims to the contrary, putting the Secretary of Defense's audit readiness initiative in jeopardy. In addition, the Office of the Inspector General (IG) seems to have turned a blind eye to the problems within the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The IG appears to have buckled under pressure from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service when it attempted to conduct oversight of the troubled agency's financial statements required by the Chief Financial Officers Act. Because of all the bungling and ethical missteps on these audits, the independence and integrity of the Inspector General's audit process may have been compromised. Grassley released the findings and recommendations in a staff oversight report. These have been forwarded to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Defense Department Inspector General Jon Rymer in a joint letter today. Audits are a primary oversight tool for rooting out fraud and waste in the government. To protect taxpayers, these government audits must be as good as they can be, Grassley said. Effective audit reporting is the key to pinpointing long-standing accounting deficiencies that allow waste and theft to go undetected and unchecked. Hard-hitting audits should help senior management separate the wheat from the chaff and apply mandated cuts where they are needed most. But, as long as the Inspector General's audit shop remains weak and ineffective, the probability of rooting out much fraud and waste during sequestration is very low. And, instead of helping identify where savings can be made, it looks like the Defense Finance and Accounting Service may be trying to hide its own problems by pretending their books are in order and then running roughshod over anybody who dares to question their clean' audit. In April 2012, Grassl… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/obamacare-enrollment-date-shift-hides-key-information-voters | Obamacare Enrollment Date Shift Hides Key Information from Voters | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the Obamacare open enrollment date shift for next year. Last night at 8:29, CMS put out a notice that it is shifting the start of open enrollment next year from October 1, 2014, to November 15, 2014. That means that if premiums go through the roof in the first year of Obamacare, no one will know about it until after the election. This is clearly a cynical political move by the Obama Administration to use extra-regulatory, by any means necessary tools to keep this program afloat and hide key information from voters. The Obama Administration ought to answer for this shift. The Administration is welcome to prove me wrong by committing to put out 2015 plan year premium rates by November 1, 2014. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qa-fisa | Q&A on FISA | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IA | Charles Grassley | G000386 | www.grassley.senate.gov | legacy | Q: What is FISA? A: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is more commonly known by its acronym FISA. The law sets the parameters by which America's intelligence community may conduct physical and electronic surveillance of those suspected of espionage or terrorism. Until the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans likely were largely unaware of surveillance powers authorized by this federal law that was designed to protect U.S. national security and economic interests. More recently, FISA has made headlines due to controversial activities conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) over the last decade. Since 9/11 the NSA has cast a wide surveillance net that calls into question privacy protections and Fourth Amendment rights related to search and seizure, including a program through which it collects information about the telephone calls of Americans but not the content of the calls themselves. Q: What is at stake? A: An abundance of skepticism exists today among Americans about the size and scope of the federal government. The $17 trillion national debt represents unbridled tax and spending policies that allow the government to grow at the expense of the taxpaying public. The bungled rollout of the Affordable Care Act is arguably circus peanuts compared to the intrusive impact that the sweeping health care law's mandates, penalties and taxes will have on job creation, economic growth and the taxpaying public. Likewise, the revelations leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden this summer have triggered considerable public debate and civil lawsuits that challenge the government's authority to deploy sweeping surveillance measures at the expense of individual privacy. Our system of self-government counts upon the fundamental functions of checks and balances to make the government work of, by and for the people. The government's fundamental mission to protect public safety, secure the homeland and uphold national security does not come with a license to ignore constitutional boundaries, lega… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |
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