For Immediate Release
Friday, December 18, 2015

Senator Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the Senate passed an omnibus bill.  Grassley voted against the measure.

“Omnibus appropriations bills are never the best way forward.  Republicans made a commitment to individual spending bills.  The Appropriations Committee worked through the grueling task of putting together individual bills, only to be thwarted by the Democrats with nearly every attempt to bring them to debate on the Senate floor.  

“So, now we’re left with a bloated year-end deal that increases spending by tens of billions of dollars above the bipartisan promise Congress made in 2011 to rein in runaway spending.  

“The best part of this bill is the tax provisions.  It includes many items I either drafted or co-authored and many more that I support.  The renewable energy items, including the five-year   extension of the wind energy production tax credit, support jobs.  They support the renewable energy that consumers want for a cleaner environment and energy independence from countries that wish to do us harm.  The college savings provisions help families and students afford college.  They improve a tax incentive that’s popular with Iowans and others around the country who work hard to save money for their children and grandchildren to get an education.  These families were rightly upset when the President proposed getting rid of these plans. The IRS provisions are necessary to get the agency more focused on its number one job of taxpayer service and less concerned about ignoring or manipulating decision-making about groups’ tax status.  

“After the tax provisions and knowing a shutdown has been averted, there’s not a lot else to be happy about.  Inclusions of the 9-11 victims compensation fund bill, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act and funding for the Entry-Exit System are positive, but a straight extension of the EB-5 immigration program, allowing the Waters of the United States rule to continue, continued admittance of Syrian refugees and thousands of unskilled workers who are competing with Americans for jobs, along with several agriculture provisions, are big disappointments.

“The reauthorization of a fully off-set 9-11 victims’ compensation fund for five years is one of the few highlights of the omnibus.  I’m particularly satisfied that in this measure I was able to include a separate mechanism for thousands of U.S. victims of state sponsors of terrorism to obtain compensation, funded not by taxpayers, but with fines and penalties assessed against those who choose to do business with state sponsors of terrorism.  For decades, many of these victims, including the Tehran hostages, have never been able to obtain justice.   

“I was also able to secure funding designated specifically for the Entry-Exit System that has been authorized but not funded since 1996, to address some gaping holes in the visa system and better secure the border.  Funding for this is especially important as we see increases in terrorism threats against the United States.  It only makes sense that we know who is in the country, when they’re supposed to depart, and when they actually leave.

“One of the biggest disappointments is the straight 10 month extension of the EB-5 immigrant investor program.  There are well-documented national security concerns and abuse of the program, and a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on reform.  It should have been a no-brainer.  Instead, negotiations were allowed to be hijacked by a small number of special interest groups who wanted the status-quo and the necessary reforms were shoved aside.   

“From an agriculture standpoint, there are some major changes to policy being made in this bill.  For one, the appropriators opened the farm bill by bringing back generic certificates that are simply used to circumvent payment limits.  The largest farmers who will benefit the most from these unlimited subsidies will continue their stranglehold on acres that prevent young and beginning farmers from ever having a chance to get started in farming.  

“The Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law repeal is an unfortunate necessity because of pending retaliation.  After the World Trade Organization ruled that COOL was a trade barrier, a group of us worked to find a way to avoid possible sanctions by Canada and Mexico, while still allowing voluntary labeling of meat products.  Unfortunately, our bipartisan solution was never acted on by the Senate, and a full repeal was necessary to avoid potentially $1 billion in retaliation from Canada and Mexico.  We’ll continue to work to find a solution that shows people where their food comes from, just like people know where their t-shirts come from, that is World Trade Organization compliant.

“Unfortunately, the bill also failed to block implementation of the Waters of the United States rule.  It’s clear the EPA overstepped its bounds when writing this rule.  Federal courts have temporarily put this rule on hold, and rightly so.  In addition, this week’s Government Accountability Office report saying that the EPA engaged in ‘covert propaganda’ to illegally promote its WOTUS rule should put a rest to any talk that this rule should continue.  Congress should do its part and put a stop to it once and for all.

“It’s too bad that the omissions and negative aspects of the bill overall outweigh the many good provisions.” 

For more information on the tax provisions, click here. 

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