QUESTION: Senator, western Iowa was hit recently with some winter weather, and a FEMA request has come through from the
governor. Do you know where that stands right now?
And how do you -- what's your opinion of that issue?
GRASSLEY: Yes, well, my opinion is to be supportive of it because, if the -- I doubt if there's ever been a single disaster declaration made
by any governor over all of my years in the United States Senate that (inaudible) insurer of last resort is the role of the federal government.
So, when this came in, we supported it. And I think that's been, now, almost a week ago, as I recall. And -- but you don't need to worry
about the money because, just as soon as the president OKs this, the money, under programs that have been on the books for a long period of time, it
flows.
And it will flow according to past policy. And so, you know, a hailstorm or an earthquake in one part of the country versus the other, or, in
your case, freezing rain and ice and losing electricity and all the damage that goes with it are all treated the same.
And then that money is in -- is, you know, appropriated from time to time, and it's sitting there ready to flow. Then, when the money in the
FEMA fund runs out, it's pretty much just by consensus, but by a vote of Congress, it's replenished.
And it depends on how much natural disaster you have, how often you have to do that. But it's done without debate.
QUESTION: This is Joe.
GRASSLEY: Yes, Go ahead, Joe.
QUESTION: The EPA has issued its expanded renewable fuel standards. and they're wanting to have $36 billion gallons of ethanol,
biofuels and biodiesel by 2022.
But it seems like some of the industry's, kind of, in trouble in Iowa. Our biodiesel plant in (inaudible) has closed down.
So I was wondering what the federal government's role should be to help see that that happens?
GRASSLEY: Well, the policy is pretty much all in place. For instance, the recent decision by EPA that you just mentioned comes from a
law that was passed two or three years ago.
QUESTION: OK.
GRASSLEY: And it -- and it requires (inaudible) but it's going to go up considerably, and it's part of that $36 billion that you're talking
about. Most of the other would be ethanol, obviously.
So that -- that policy -- I'm glad that they finally made a decision. I was hoping they'd make a decision December the 1st. But they made a
decision, so that will serve the same as we now have a 10.5 billion gallon mandate for ethanol.
And -- and that's both for biodiesel from grain and -- and ethanol grain, reaches a peak of 15 billion gallons, I think, by the year 2015.
They have the second generation, which is called cellulosic ethanol that will be used for the remaining 36 billion gallons.
Now, the other thing that we have to do, and the reason the plant you're talking about is shut down is (inaudible) but Senator Baucus and I,
who are the ranking people on the Finance Committee -- pardon me for doing that in your ear -- Senator Baucus and I are working on not just
extending the ethanol tax credit, and we hope to get this done the next couple weeks, maybe even announce a bill yet this week, but it won't be passed
this week, to continue that subsidy.
And we'll back date it to January the 1st. So then these plants should start back up at that point.
QUESTION: OK. Obviously, State of the Union recently, and the president then went on to visit the Republican retreat for the
congressmen. Are you sensing any sense of new bipartisan moving forward on some bills and maybe different ideas from both parties being put
forward?
GRASSLEY: Yes, I do. I think it's very helpful for the president to do that.
And I think the only place where you couldn't say that there's opportunities for bipartisanship right now would be on health care reform,
because the president decided to move ahead in a partisan way on that back in September, and that was after I'd spent three months of negotiating on
trying to get a bipartisan deal.
But everything else I think is OK, and I wouldn't say that sometime down the road that it's not going to be possible on health care reform.
But it's going to have to be done on a bipartisan basis, and that's the president going to Republican leaders, not necessarily to me.
I can be the technocrat that can put something together once we get some judgment that Democrats are willing to consider medical
malpractice reform, to drop the individual mandate, to have the selling of insurance across state lines, to take out possibilities of rationing of health care
and things of that nature.
And I'm not stopping at three or four, I'm just saying that that's a good place for people that want bipartisanship of health care to help move
the ball forward.
And then I think that you also need to take into consideration that, you know, you're very concerned back there at the grass roots of Iowa,
about squabbling going on in Congress. And I hope that, except for the health care bill and maybe a couple others, in the last 10 years that Senator
Baucus and I, he's now chairman of the committee, I used to be when we were in the majority, that we kind of set an example for the rest of the
Congress that you can do things in a bipartisan way.
The trouble is, you know, you folks are in the media, you know that controversy sells newspapers and radio stories better than lovey-dovey
stuff. And so I guess you get ginned up on controversial stuff and not so ginned up on things when people get along.
But, so, you know, there's more emphasis upon dissension, and agreement doesn't quite get the attention it should.
QUESTION: Is there anything -- or is there something that you see in the president's budget that you think could definitely change to make
it cost a little less, I guess?
GRASSLEY: Well, the concept of freezing across the board is not a bad concept, but the trouble is they're freezing at 21 percent
increases. And if you include some stimulus spending, much higher percentage increases just within the last 12 months. And consequently they're
freezing at a very abnormally high level.
The last Bush administration had 3 percent increases. Well, you get 21 percent increases and then you freeze it, that 21 percent, there's no
reason we should reactivate all of those increases. And I would suggest that.
But I'd also suggest that -- a lot of people say we ought to raise taxes. Well, if I (inaudible) raised taxes and went to the bottom line, that'd
be one thing. But most of the time I see a dollar's worth of tax increase around here is an excuse to spend $1.15. So you get deeper in the hole by
raising taxes.
And we've got projections of tax -- tax revenue coming in once the economy grows at a higher level than it's been since the year 2000.
So it's not a case of taxing too much -- or not taxing enough. It's a case of spending too much.
I got room -- time for one last question.
QUESTION: Moving forward throughout this year, obviously, we're at a tea party that was here in Denison, Iowa, and they have a
convention that's coming up. Do you think that that will be a part of the Republican Party, or will that remain -- and how do you see that playing out in
politics?
GRASSLEY: Well, I think it might benefit the Republican Party, but I don't think they're prepared to join any political party right now.
They are quite a force, and a welcome force.
And -- and I think it's -- they speak for a lot of people that consider themselves voiceless; and has encouraged a lot of other people to
speak up. And I think it has a very mellowing impact upon our representative form of government.
I welcome it. I think we will benefit from it. But we won't benefit from it until we show that very group of people that we have reestablished
the fiscal integrity that we ran on in '94 and probably 10 years later started to forget, and then we're kicked off -- out of office in 2006.
I think we're reestablishing a record over the last year, but I don't think we've convinced the people yet. And our job is to convince not only
Republicans, but these independents or tea party people that we're going to keep the fiscal integrity if we get back into the majority.
Thank you, Michael and Joe, for participating in today's public affairs program.
This has been Senator Chuck Grassley reporting to the people of Iowa.
So I thank you very much.
QUESTION: Thank you, Senator.
QUESTION: Thank you, Senator.
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