History Blog

Americans this week will observe Independence Day. Growing up, it seemed like the Fourth of July packed a summer of activities into a single day. I looked forward to the annual parade in Cedar Falls and watched fireworks coming from Island Park on the bluff above the Cedar River.   The American flag waved prominently along the parade route and the entire...

This week, we celebrate Flag Day. Seventy-five years ago, Congress designated Flag Day to commemorate the Second Continental Congress adopting the flag resolution during the American Revolution on June 14, 1777: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field,...

Washington has a chronic budgeting problem.   Before 1974, the congressional budget process was akin to the Wild West. Each committee had free rein of the public purse. No topline number steered appropriators within a fiscal fence. Nothing kept authorizers from tying new mandatory programs to the taxpayers’ saddle.   The Congressional Budget Act of 1974...

By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Weeks before the spring warmth began thawing the soil, farmers across Iowa felt the itch to get in the fields. As a lifelong family farmer on our fourth-generation, Northeastern Iowa farm, I know how tempting it is to get a head start on spring planting. I also understand the realities farmers face to weather all kinds of...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress and the White House tackled what then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill had dubbed the third rail of politics: Social Security. That’s because those who spoke up about Social Security’s finances invariably learned the topic was political kryptonite. But President Ronald Reagan and Speaker O’Neill changed the...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress established Women’s History Week to recognize the role women play in our nation’s economy, culture and politics. Acknowledging their work, sacrifice, resilience and patriotism inspires future generations to pursue their dreams and strengthens the social fabric of America.    The joint resolution of Congress...

The president shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. – Article II, Section 3, Clause 1, U.S. Constitution Since George Washington traveled to Federal Hall in New York City to deliver the first annual message to a joint...

Less than one month into the New Year, President Biden’s administration threw allies, energy security and homegrown American jobs under the bus. You might wonder how the White House managed to do that with just the stroke of a pen. At President Biden’s direction, the Department of Energy effectively froze the approval process for American companies to export...