News Releases

WASHINGTON – As a longtime supporter of Sunshine Week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today joined Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in introducing legislation that would bring further transparency to how tax dollars are being spent in schools. The senators asked for regular public updates on the reopening status of the nation’s schools and accountability...

WASHINGTON – Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Representatives Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) today introduced the Methamphetamine Response Act, a bill declaring methamphetamine an emerging drug threat which would require the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to develop, implement and make...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chair of the Judiciary Committee today introduced legislation to require open proceedings of the Supreme Court to be televised. The bipartisan Cameras in Courtroom Act 2021would require the Supreme Court to permit television...

WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, today introduced the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2021 to address fraud and national security vulnerabilities in the EB-5 investor visa Regional Center Program, which has...

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Senator Patrick Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and Senator John Cornyn to issue the following statement in recognition of Sunshine...

WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today, along with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California), introduced the Open and Responsive Government Act, to reverse recent developments that undermine the public’s right to access information and hold government accountable....

Senator Grassley's weekly Capitol Hill Report can be found here: Capitol Hill Report 03-15-21Topics include: Coronavirus economic relief, Sunshine Week and the 2022 election cycle.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led a group of lawmakers in calling on the Justice Department to continue its probe into whether state officials failed to comply with federal guidelines or requirements for participation in federal programs in their response to coronavirus infections among...

Q&A: Sunshine Week With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley   Q: Why is Sunshine Week important to commemorate?   A: James Madison is known as the father of open government. During the week of his birthday, March 16, we honor his legacy with “Sunshine Week” to celebrate the public’s right to know. Thirty-five years after drafting the...

WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and a bipartisan group of senators to introduce the NICS Denial Notification Act, which would help states enforce existing laws against individuals who attempt to purchase firearms but have no legal right to do so. This bill would require federal authorities to alert state and...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley joined Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and dozens of their Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2021, would...

WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced the bipartisan Fair Returns for Public Lands Act, legislation to update the nation’s outdated public lands royalty system and ensure that taxpayers and rural communities get fair returns on leases of public lands for oil and gas production.   “Big Oil continues...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) are seeking an expanded investigation of the circumstances leading to the placement of National Security Agency General Counsel Michael Ellis on administrative leave, following public reports that raise concerns of political pressure from the new...

WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and eight of their Senate colleagues today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging the department to assist biofuel producers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.   “We have been advocating for targeted relief for the biofuels industry since...

Senator Grassley's weekly Capitol Hill Report can be found here: Capitol Hill Report 03-8-21Topics include: Coronavirus economic relief, CVOID-19 vaccines, election laws and the 2022 election.

-- Dems reject targeted COVID relief; adopt unrelated bailouts & extraneous liberal priorities   WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today made the following statement after the Senate jammed through a partisan $1.9 trillion spending bill that, despite its name, was more focused on longstanding liberal policy priorities than COVID...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) proposed an amendment to the $1.9 trillion spending plan that would make derecho-ravaged farms eligible for federal assistance already available for victims of costal hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters. The plan, which was originally offered in the House of Representatives by Rep. Randy Feenstra...

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats blocked a motion by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to push for structural fixes to troubled multiemployer pension plans in their partisan $1.9 trillion COVID spending package. Instead, Democrats opted for an $86 billion bailout with no strings attached, all but guaranteeing that taxpayers will be on the hook for future...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined 10 of his Republican colleagues in introducing a $650 billion COVID-19 relief plan as a substitute amendment to the $1.9 trillion budget reconciliation bill. The amendment, which was built on the COVID-19 relief plan that was unveiled last month by a group of Republican Senators, was not adopted by a vote of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee today joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of colleagues to introduce critical legislation to strengthen the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) which Grassley cosponsored years ago. This legislation, led by U.S. Sen. Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the...