WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa marked a series of policy and oversight accomplishments in the 115th Congress.
“Serving the people of Iowa as their United States Senator is my first priority and it’s an honor that I take seriously,” Grassley said. “As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and through my extensive oversight efforts, my work focuses on making government more transparent, efficient and accountable to Iowans and all Americans.”
Grassley holds at least one question-and-answer session in each of Iowa’s 99 counties every year to hear concerns and answer questions on any subject from Iowans. In 2018, Grassley completed his annual county meetings for the 38th year in a row. Grassley holds meetings in a variety of settings to ensure that a broad cross-section of Iowans can participate, including businesses, schools, town meetings and factory floors. Although the setting may differ from county to county, the format is the same: Iowans set the agenda.
In addition to his annual meetings, Grassley attended or convened a variety of events and forums, including:
In 2018, Grassley created a social media series called #CornWatch that gave followers an insider look at farming operations and tracked the progression of the corn crop grown on the Grassley family farm in New Hartford, Iowa from planting through harvest.
When the Senate is in session, Grassley sets aside eight 15-minute meetings every Monday through Thursday to meet with Iowans in Washington, D.C., including advocacy groups, associations, chambers of commerce and local business leaders, students and families. During the 115th Congress, Grassley met with more than 2,000 groups of Iowans visiting the nation’s capital and discussed a variety of policy issues affecting Iowans such as trade, tax reform and health care. Grassley also joined 26 Iowa schools for Q&As via video conferencing and, as an avid fan of Iowa universities, attended dozens of sporting events.
Highlights of Grassley’s legislative and oversight work follow here:
Agriculture:
As the senior senator of one of the top agricultural states in the country, Grassley has been an outspoken advocate for farmers and Rural America. He has consistently called for a new Farm Bill that would include commonsense reforms to ensure federal assistance only goes to farmers who truly need it instead of millionaire non-farmers gaming the system.
Grassley, along with Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, raised concerns with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency over potentially wasteful payouts made to the estates of deceases farmers.
Grassley was also a leading supporter for the confirmation of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey to be Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservations at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Grassley introduced Northey at his nomination hearing, praised his qualifications and congratulated him at his long-overdue confirmation.
Grassley joined fellow Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst in introducing the Give Our Resources the Opportunity to Work (GROW) Act of 2018, which was largely enacted in the 2018 Farm Bill. It refocuses conservation spending on marginal cropland to benefit soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat. It also protects rural economies and ensures greater farmland access for beginning and young farmers.
Grassley and Ernst, along with other members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the proposed purchase of National Beef Packing Co. by a Brazilian meat company.
During the fall of 2017, Grassley reintroduced the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2017 to reverse a Supreme Court ruling (Hall v. United States) that made it harder for family farmers to reorganize their finances after declaring bankruptcy. The bill was included as part of the supplemental appropriations package and was signed into law by President Trump.
Also in 2017, the USDA withdrew two rules related to the Packers and Stockyards Act, commonly referred to as the “GIPSA rules.” As the only two farmers currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Grassley, along with Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to express their disagreement over the agency’s decision to withdraw these rules. Grassley also offered legislation to amend the Packers and Stockyards Act to make it unlawful for a packer to own, feed or control livestock intended for slaughter.
Grassley introduced the Food Security is National Security Act of 2017, which would give top U.S. agriculture and food officials permanent representation on CFIUS. It would also include new agriculture and food-related criteria for CFIUS to consider when reviewing transactions that could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign company, ensuring the U.S. has the tools and people it needs to safeguard the nation’s food security, food safety, biosecurity and bring security to Iowa farmers and the U.S. farm sector as a whole.
As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Grassley wrote a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting an update of its 2013 report on farm program eligibility in advance of the Farm Bill. In 2014, Grassley led an effort to fix loopholes that allowed farmers to exploit the system by using non-farming family members to receive additional subsidies from the government. Both chambers of Congress passed his bipartisan amendment that included reforms to farm program eligibility, but the amendment was significantly watered down during conference and ultimately became law as part of the 2014 Farm Bill. In 2018, Grassley introduced the same payment limit loophole amendment, but again it was left out of the final text of the Farm Bill.
Antitrust:
In his capacity as Senate Judiciary chairman, Grassley, along with House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, requested input from the Justice Department’s (DOJ) antitrust division on a proposal to hold the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members accountable for antitrust violations. In a letter to Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the lawmakers touted the bicameral, bipartisan support for the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, or NOPEC, which Grassley introduced.
Grassley and Goodlatte also sent a letter to President Trump regarding the impact of foreign antitrust enforcement on American citizens and businesses abroad. In the letter, they requested the President establish a “White House Working Group on International Competition” to coordinate international competition and trade policy with the United States. They also requested the development of a comprehensive and consistent strategy to address misuse of foreign competition law by foreign governments.
In a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Joseph Simons, Grassley requested the FTC conduct an assessment of recent and ongoing consolidation in the pharmaceutical supply chain and its potential impact on prescription drug prices for American consumers. Grassley also called on the DOJ’s antitrust division to conduct a vigorous review of the proposed mergers of Cigna Corp. with Express Scripts Holding Co., and CVS Health Corp. with Aetna Inc. due to the potential influence the mergers could have on the price of prescription drugs.
Grassley also sent a letter to Chairman Simons requesting the FTC conduct an assessment of potentially anticompetitive contracting practices between insurers and hospital systems in the United States deliberately designed to prevent consumers’ access to quality, lower cost care.
The Senate passed Grassley’s Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, which would extend whistleblower protections for employees who provide information to the DOJ related to criminal antitrust violations. This is part of Grassley’s decades-long effort to protect and empower whistleblowers. The legislation passed the Senate the past two congresses, but has not been taken up by the House of Representatives.
Grassley and Goodlatte called on the DOJ and FTC to work with the U.S. Trade Representative to make strong competition provisions a central part of upcoming trade negotiations. In their 2017 letter, Grassley and Goodlatte encouraged the federal antitrust agencies to include a competition chapter in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to establish a high standard for competition chapters in future trade negotiations.
Criminal Justice Reform:
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley, along with Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Mike Lee of Utah, Corey Booker of New Jersey, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, introduced the bipartisan First Step Act. The legislation – the most significant criminal justice reform effort in a generation – passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law by President Trump, will reduce recidivism, promote public safety and improve fairness in sentencing of federal crimes.
Grassley, along with a bipartisan group of senators, reintroduced the landmark Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, which would recalibrate prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, target violent and career criminals and save taxpayer dollars. The bill would allow increased judicial discretion at sentencing for offenders with minimal criminal histories and help inmates successfully re-enter society. It would also tighten penalties for violent criminals and preserve key prosecutorial tools for law enforcement. The legislation advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in early 2018 with broad support.
Defense Oversight:
Grassley’s extensive oversight work throughout his career has included a dogged pursuit for answers from the Pentagon over decades of wasteful spending and its inability to produce a clean financial audit.
Grassley has repeatedly pressed Secretary of Defense James Mattis to follow through on his commitment to end waste, fraud and abuse at the Department of Defense (DOD). Along with Sens. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Ron Wyden of Oregon, Grassley requested the GAO conduct an independent review of the reasons behind DOD’s failure to acquire modern financial information technology systems capable of generating reliable information and supporting credible financial statements.
In the fall of 2018, the Pentagon released the results of a full financial audit, showing it failed to produce a clean audit. Grassley commented on those results, saying that they were “disappointing but not surprising.”
The results of the audit follow multiple calls from Grassley for the DOD to make the changes necessary to pass a full financial audit. In early 2018, Grassley received the results of an audit he requested in 2016 along with then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The results were alarming, showing poor recordkeeping, lack of mission, poor planning and incomplete projects, among other dissatisfactory conclusions. One example of note is the $43 million DOD spent on a gas station in Afghanistan.
Throughout 2018, Grassley engaged repeatedly with DOD leaders, including Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Heather Wilson, seeking answers as to why the department was wasting $14,000 of taxpayer dollars on individual toilet seat covers and $1,280 on individual water-heating cups – an expense that totaled nearly $326,785 over three years. After Grassley’s inquiry, the Air Force stopped purchasing the exorbitantly-priced cups. It still has not provided a complete response for its purchasing of $14,000 individual toilet seat covers.
Grassley raised questions about a DOD Inspector General (IG) audit report on TRICARE overpayments. The report cited improper payments of up to $81.2 million made by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to TRICARE providers in 2015 and 2016. Despite providing a number of pointed questions aimed at getting to the bottom of these overpayments, Fine side-stepped providing detailed and specific answers in his response letter to Grassley. In fact, the letter did not include a timetable requested for recovering the TRICARE overpayments, it did not acknowledge accountability for the overpayments and did not recommend solutions to ensure accountability moving forward. DOD currently estimates that it would cost $182 million of taxpayer money to recover the improper payments.
Grassley also pressed Mattis to review which employees were responsible for wasting at least $64.8 million on a plane intended for counter-narcotics work in Afghanistan that never flew a single such mission and was later put up for auction.
DOJ/ FBI:
As a watchdog of the federal bureaucracy, Grassley continues staunch oversight of the Justice Department the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in 2017. He also built upon longstanding efforts to protect whistleblowers by pressing the FBI to explain why it has failed to update its whistleblower policies, employee trainings and internal communications to comply with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (FBI WPEA).
Grassley introduced the new protections last congress to bring FBI whistleblower policies in line with those at other federal agencies. The bipartisan bill was signed into law on December 16, 2016. Grassley also pressed the DOJ regarding the FBI’s implementation of whistleblower protections. In a letter to DOJ, Grassley outlined a series of concerns about whistleblower protections that have gone unaddressed despite government reports drawing attention to these problems and recommending changes.
Grassley called on the FBI to explain its advance knowledge and any plan to thwart a 2015 terrorist attack in Garland, Texas, and pressed for answers on how an FBI translator was reportedly able to travel to Syria and marry the ISIS operative whom she was supposed to be investigating.
With Whitehouse and Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and John Cornyn of Texas, Grassley introduced the Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017. The legislation would modernize and strengthen criminal laws against money laundering, update criminal money laundering and counterfeiting statutes and promote transparency in the U.S. financial system.
Grassley and Feinstein also introduced the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017. The legislation would authorize for the first time the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), which provides law enforcement with techniques and best practices for handling digital forensics evidence.
Grassley introduced the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, legislation that would put in place stricter rules to deter harmful, abusive and frivolous litigation.
Drug Prices:
Grassley continued to be a leader in the fight to decrease prescription drug costs during the 115th Congress. Along with Durbin, Grassley introduced an amendment, which passed the Senate, to bolster efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require pharmaceutical companies to disclose prescription list drug prices in television ads.
Grassley introduced the Right Rebate Act of 2018 with Wyden. The legislation will close a loophole in Medicaid that has allowed pharmaceutical manufacturers to misclassify their drugs and overcharge taxpayers by billions of dollars and provide HHS with additional authorities to ensure drugs are properly classified. Grassley first became aware of the issue during the Obama administration when Iowans regularly contacted him regarding the exorbitantly high cost of the anti-allergy EpiPen device.
Grassley applauded the approval of the first generic version of the EpiPen, an emergency auto-injector of epinephrine used to treat severe, life-threatening allergic reactions. Grassley has been a critic of EpiPen’s high cost. After conducting years-long oversight of the issue, Grassley learned that Mylan, EpiPen’s distributor, classified its popular anti-allergy medicine as a generic instead of as a brand name product in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP). That incorrect classification allowed Mylan to pay smaller rebates to States and government programs, such as the MDRP. Grassley’s investigation also found that the HHS and the HHS Inspector General (IG) did not have adequate authorities to properly oversee the MDRP and ensure drugs were properly classified. The costly practices were confirmed by the HHS IG when it found, at Grassley’s request that taxpayers may have overpaid for the EpiPen by as much as $1.27 billion over 10 years. The IG also found that additional drugs could be misclassified. The costly practices were confirmed by the government’s internal watchdog when it found that taxpayers may have overpaid for the EpiPen by as much as $1.27 billion over 10 years.
Grassley continually pressed for the accurate classification of prescription drugs under the MDRP. He sought answers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on whether it sought to recoup tax dollars overpaid for EpiPens from Mylan. He sent a follow-up letter after receiving no response from CMS, reiterating his initial request for information. Grassley continued pressing for answers when news broke that EpiPen maker Mylan was in discussions with the DOJ to settle a case and repay the taxpayers for over-charging for EpiPen. Grassley sent a letter to then-President-elect Trump urging appropriate classification under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. That letter is available here. Grassley also sent a letter to the outgoing Administration on the issue, which is available here. His Oct. 3, 2016 letter to the prior administration on the EpiPen misclassification is available here. When the DOJ and EpiPen maker Mylan settled its case over the drug’s misclassification, Grassley issued a statement of disappointment, saying it shortchanged taxpayers.
On behalf of Iowans, Grassley also wrote to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller seeking clarification regarding his office’s ability to determine the value of reimbursement to the state necessary to make Iowa whole from EpiPen’s apparent misclassification. A few months later, Grassley followed up with another letter seeking additional details and accompanying documentation regarding the state’s receiving $1.5 million as part of a DOJ settlement with Mylan.
In his capacity as Senate Judiciary chairman, Grassley shepherded the bipartisan Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act through the committee. The legislation, cosponsored by Grassley, would combat anticompetitive practices used by some brand-name pharmaceutical and biologic companies to block lower-cost generic drugs from entering the market.
Grassley introduced the Ensuring the Value of the 340B Program Act to increase transparency in a targeted way into the 340B program, which was created by Congress in the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 and allows hospitals and other health care entities to receive discounted prices on prescription drugs and biologics from drug manufacturers. By law, these drug manufacturers must offer 340B discounts to covered entities in order to participate in the Medicaid program. The statute does not require hospitals to track or report savings or how they are used, however. It also doesn’t require hospitals to report the level of charity care they provide to patients. The lack of reporting requirements have resulted in a lack of transparency in this program. This legislation addresses the problem by requiring participating hospitals to report the total acquisition costs for drugs collected through the 340B program, as well as revenues received from all third party payers for those same drugs.
With Ernst and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Grassley introduced the bipartisan Access to Increased Drug Disposal (AIDD) Act of 2018. The legislation is designed to increase participation in the federal prescription drug take-back programs to help combat prescription drug abuse and the growing opioid epidemic.
Grassley pushed back on prescription drug price discrepancies between the United States and other countries, saying “there’s no reason that Americans should pay more than anyone else for exactly the same medications.”
An advocate for the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, Grassley, along with the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota urged then-Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price to use his statutory authority to fast track the importation of prescription drugs from Canada under certain circumstances as a remedy to recent drastic drug price increases in the United States. Earlier this year, HHS announced it would create a task force to explore prescription drug importation as a way to reduce drug prices in the United States.
At the start of the Congress, Grassley cosponsored the bipartisan Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act, which would crack down on anti-competitive agreements between branded and generic companies to postpone entry of generic drugs in the marketplace. These pay-off settlements delay consumer access to generic drugs, which can be as much as 90 percent cheaper than brand-name drugs. The legislation would stop these anti-competitive pay-off agreements to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market and make sure consumers have access to the cost saving generics they need.
In April, 2017, Grassley asked health insurer CareFirst to explain an apparent practice of charging customers more for receiving a brand name prescription drug than a generic drug when the insurer’s own doctors explicitly prescribed the brand name drug for medical reasons. Grassley also noted due process concerns about this potential practice if the insurer was not complying with its own policies. He also wrote a letter to Kaléo Pharmaceuticals, the maker of epinephrine injector Auvi-Q, to explain its pricing, including which entities in the health care system will pay the cited price of $4,500 for a two-pack when consumers without insurance will pay $360 for the product. Grassley said the pricing of Auvi-Q “appears to draw parallels with concern about EpiPen’s pricing structure.”
Education:
As part of his extensive oversight work, Grassley sought answers from then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on whether the DOJ has made efforts to look into Confucius Institutes. These institutes are controlled by the government of China and exist within colleges and universities under the guise of teaching Chinese language, culture in history, but too often their activities are political in nature and intended to influence American policy and public opinion.
Grassley sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis S. Collins seeking information about the vetting processes in place at NIH regarding foreign researchers and public grants and the steps NIH has taken to ensure the integrity of taxpayer funded research. Grassley cited a case from 2013 in which foreign researchers were charged with conspiring to steal research funded by a multi-million dollar NIH grant for the benefit of a Chinese governmental entity and a direct competitor of the American university where the research was conducted.
Grassley sent a letter to then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asking for information on the Student and Exchange Visitor Program that allows private institutions to manage visas for foreign students seeking enrollment in a U.S.-based school with limited oversight. The program creates a perverse incentive for the foreign students, the schools that recruit them and the employers that hire them, all of whom benefit from the program at the expense of American workers and taxpayers. There is no cap for the number of foreign students who can enroll in the program.
Grassley also introduced a series of bills aimed at providing students and their families a better idea of the true costs of higher education and giving them the tools needed to make informed decisions based on tuition costs, financial aid and loan and repayment options.
The Net Price Calculator Improvement Act would improve the effectiveness and access to net price calculators, tools that provide students with early, individualized estimates of higher education costs and financial aid figures before they decide where to apply.
The Understanding the True Cost of College Act would create a universal financial aid award letter so that students could easily compare financial aid packages between schools. It would clarify what financial aid families would receive from a school and create standard terms for the aid offered so that students could accurately compare offers from different schools.
The Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act would increase the amount of information students receive about federal student loans, including their potential ability to repay, before rather than after signing up for tens of thousands of dollars in debt to Uncle Sam.
Grassley cosponsored the Teachers Are Leaders Act, which would create partnerships between colleges and high-need schools to develop and support innovative teacher leader roles, which would support efforts already underway in Iowa.
Additionally, Grassley and fellow legislators have worked with federal agencies to clarify that nonprofit lenders, including state-run or state-chartered organizations, can use tax-exempt bonds for student loan refinancing, which will expand the number of options for those seeking to refinance federal student loans. Along with 14 fellow senators, Grassley urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department to make technical clarifications to rules on refinancing options for student debt.
Grassley also offered a resolution designating March 3, 2017 as "National Speech and Debate Education Day," which passed the Senate by unanimous consent.
Grassley also offered a resolution designating the week beginning October 15, 2017, as "National Character Counts Week," which passed the Senate with unanimous consent.
Energy:
As a champion of renewable fuels and an all-of-the-above American energy policy, Grassley continued his extensive work to enact responsible energy policies during the 115th Congress.
Grassley has been a leader in the effort to allow the sale of year-round E15. After regular correspondence with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meetings at the White House, President Trump announced in October 2018 that he has instructed the EPA to begin the process of allowing year-round use of E15.
Grassley has also led the fight to maintain a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). He led efforts to put pressure on the EPA to stop issuing “hardship waivers” to obligated refiners as well as make the waiver process more transparent and highlight the importance of the RFS to President Trump.
In November 2018, the EPA announced its 2019 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the RFS. Grassley applauded the increases projections and noted them as a “bright spot in the agricultural economy and for farmers” after regularly underwhelming and often disappointing news from then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Prior to the Administration taking action on E15, Grassley, along with Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would extend the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver to ethanol blends above 10 percent, increasing market opportunities for higher blends of ethanol. It would also allow retailers to sell E15 and other higher-ethanol/gasoline fuel blends year-round.
Much of Grassley’s energy agenda focused on the RFS. Grassley worked extensively with Senate colleagues, President Trump and the EPA to find ways forward on renewable energies and fulfill congressional intent on the RFS.
Under new proposed rules, America’s commitment to biofuels would have been decreased, resulting in less renewable fuels being blended. In a letter, Grassley and a bipartisan group of 23 senators urged President Trump to maintain the point of obligation under the RFS and reject changes that would upend the current successful system. In November 2017, EPA announced it would maintain the point of obligation.
Grassley also sent a letter to Pruitt asking him to support a strong RFS as the agency worked toward finalizing its rule on biofuels volume requirements for 2018 under the RFS. The letter urged the continued implementation of the RFS as intended by Congress and the release of a strong final rule that would give consumers more choices at the pump, strengthen the economy and make the country more secure.
Grassley continued to put pressure on the EPA by joining Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington and a bipartisan group of 29 senators in a letter urging the agency to increase its proposed 2019 RVOs for biodiesel. The move would encourage growth in the industry and diversity in the nation’s energy supply.
Grassley raised concerns to Energy Secretary Rick Perry regarding a study he directed that appeared geared toward undermining the wind energy industry. The study was meant to explore issues central to protecting the long-term reliability of the electricity grid, including an investigation of “market-distorting” federal policies that “create acute and chronic problems for maintaining adequate baseload generation and have impacted reliable generators of all types.” Grassley asked a series of questions about the study, including which organizations that analyze grid reliability and security would be involved, whether a contractor would conduct it, the cost to taxpayers and whether stakeholders would be able to comment on a draft.
Grassley and other Midwestern senators received several assurances in a letter from Pruitt ensuring that the EPA would not follow through on a proposal that would have undermined the integrity of the RFS. The letter from Pruitt can be found here. This came after Grassley led several letters and meetings on the issue.
Grassley led a bipartisan group of senators urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to work with the Brazilian government to end a recently reinstated 20 percent tariff on ethanol imports in excess of 600 million liters (158 million gallons) annually. The United States is the primary exporter of ethanol into Brazil. U.S. producers called Brazil’s tariff plan “a trade barrier that threatens over $750 million in U.S. exports and American jobs.”
Grassley was presented with the 2018 “Fueling Growth” award by Growth Energy for his strong support and consistent work on behalf of ethanol.
Grassley was presented with the 2018 American Wind Energy Association’s “U.S. Wind Champion” award by the American Wind Energy Association for his support for wind energy technologies.
Grassley was presented with the 2018 “Innovator in Biotechnology” award by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, recognizing his contributions to the biotechnology industries.
Federal Judiciary:
Grassley presided over a historic number of federal judicial confirmations during the 115th Congress, including the confirmation of two Supreme Court justices. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley rigorously vetted and reviewed judicial nominations to ensure our federal judges will interpret and apply the law as written, not legislate from the bench based on policy preferences. President Trump has endeavored to nominate constitutionalist and textualist judges who understand the role of the judiciary in our constitutional system. Under Grassley’s leadership, the committee oversaw the confirmation of a record 30 circuit court judges, which is the most circuit court confirmations in the first two years of any presidency in history. These confirmations will have an important impact on our country not just for this Congress or presidency, but for decades to come.
Foster youth, adoption, missing children, families and elder care:
Throughout his career, Grassley has been a staunch advocate for children and families. He continued his work on these issues in the 115th Congress by introducing a number of bills aimed at protecting special needs children, preventing elder abuse, encouraging elder independence and funding programs to improve family health.
Grassley and Klobuchar introduced Kevin and Avonte’s Law, named in honor of two boys with autism who perished after wandering from safety. This bipartisan bill unanimously passed the Senate and later was enacted as part of an omnibus spending measure. The legislation will help families locate missing loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, Autism and related conditions. It would also support training for caregivers to prevent and respond to instances of wandering.
Grassley, along with Feinstein, Klobuchar and Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Rob Portman of Ohio, introduced the bipartisan Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 2018, which would make resources available for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to continue its fight against child abduction and exploitation. The bill became law in October of 2018.
Grassley and Feinstein pressed Sessions to enforce the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act and ensure all American children are returned to the United States after international parental child abduction. Grassley and Feinstein, along with Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, introduced a bipartisan resolution designating the month of April as International Parental Child Abduction Month, which passed the Senate.
Grassley, along with Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Assistant Secretary for Family Support Lynn Johnson, urging her to implement recommendations from a recent HHS IG report that would help foster children who appear to be overprescribed psychotropic medications.
Along with Stabenow and Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Todd Young of Indiana, Grassley sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar asking him to ensure that the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) will help older youth avoid foster care entry or re-entry, and successfully transition out of care.
Grassley, along with Menendez, introduced the bipartisan Building Capacity for Family Focused Residential Treatment Act, a grant program to help child welfare agencies, treatment centers or non-profit organizations establish evidence-based, family-focused residential treatment programs. This legislation was signed into law as part of a package of bills to help alleviate the opioid crisis.
Grassley continued his aggressive oversight of elder care in nursing homes. After the death of an elderly woman in Buffalo Center, Iowa, reportedly due to neglect by nursing home staff, Grassley repeatedly sought answers from CMS Administrator Seema Verma about the agency’s oversight efforts of nursing homes.
Grassley introduced the Strong Families Act of 2017, legislation which would re-authorize the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, a program that provides grants to states, territories and tribal entities to develop and implement evidence-based, voluntary programs to improve maternal and child health, prevent child abuse and promote child development and school readiness.
A strong advocate for fostering and adoption programs, Grassley introduced the Foster Youth Independence Act of 2017, which allows states to provide assistance and services under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to young adults who have aged out of foster care until the age of 23. This bill was signed into law as part of the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Grassley also introduced the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act of 2017, legislation which would grant priority preference for federal housing assistance to foster youth who are aging out of care and allow youth in foster care to apply for housing assistance at the age of 16, prior to aging out.
Focusing on the health and well-being of America’s senior citizens, Grassley introduced the Community-based Independence for Seniors Act, legislation that would allow older Americans to receive individualized care that would help them continue to stay in their own homes rather than nursing homes.
Grassley also introduced the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act, which became law. The law enhances enforcement against perpetrators of crimes targeting senior citizens. Specifically, it increases training for federal investigators and prosecutors and calls for the designation of at least one prosecutor in each federal judicial district who will be tasked with handling cases of elder abuse. It also ensures that the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and the DOJ will both have an elder justice coordinator and increases penalties for perpetrators.
Grassley sought information from a Florida assisted living facility about criminal charges filed against an employee who allegedly violated the privacy of two residents using Snapchat. The case is one of the latest examples of exploitive videos or photos involving elder care facilities on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
Along with Ernst, Grassley sent a letter to the DOJ asking for an explanation regarding penalties against an Iowa nursing home that was ordered closed and to pay $100,000 to federal taxpayers over “grossly substandard care” that was essentially “without value.” Grassley and Ernst said the Abbey of Le Mars was on a federal watch list for two years during the Obama administration because of concerns about care.
Grassley also offered a resolution recognizing National Foster Care Month as an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges of children in the foster-care system, and encourage Congress to implement policies to improve the lives of children in the foster-care system. It passed the Senate with unanimous consent.
Good Government and Transparency:
Grassley introduced the American Red Cross Transparency Act of 2017, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would give the Government Accountability Office complete access to American Red Cross records for oversight purposes. The bill also responds to concerns that the Red Cross tried to quash a GAO review of its practices, successfully limiting the scope of the review.
In his continuing effort to “drain the swamp,” Grassley excoriated the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in its attempt to insulate unelected government bureaucrats from questions by the people’s elected representatives in Congress and called on President Trump to rescind the OLC opinion. In his letter, Grassley laid out the constitutional case for every member of Congress to exercise their powers of inquiry and oversight of the executive bureaucracy, regardless of committee membership or chairmanship. He emphasized the importance of oversight and inquiry regardless of partisan affiliation. In response to his inquiry, the White House has committed to voluntarily answer all congressional inquiries, not just those from committee chairmen.
Grassley urged the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney to ensure that any executive branch ethics pledge waivers granted by the Trump administration are immediately provided to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and made publicly available. Grassley made a similar request of the Obama administration in 2009. Those waivers were ultimately published on OGE’s website following Grassley’s request.
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