News Releases

Hearing to Examine Keeping Pension Plans Afloat especially small businesses -- offer pension plans to their employees than in decades. Cash-strapped airlines recently have made headlines with underfunded pension plans. The challenge for policymakers is to find ways to encourage employers to offer these pension plans and to make sure bad actors don't game...

Finance Committee to Examine Welfare Reform Successes Description: Many observers agree that welfare reform has been a success, but more needs to be done. Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, will convene a hearing to hear testimony on what has worked so far with the 1996 law and identify areas that need to be improved. The hearing...

Grassley Works to Preserve Japanese Market for U.S. Beef 20008Dear Ambassador Kato: We are writing to you regarding an issue of the highest importance to the beef industry in the United States. Japan is the largest export market for U.S. food and agricultural products. In 2001, the United States exported $1.2 billion worth of beef to Japan alone. This...

Grassley Discusses Immigration Situation in Iowa with Homeland Security Secretary Ridge Iowa Senator Asks for Fully Staffed Des Moines Office and INS Personnel in Quad Cities 20528Dear Secretary Ridge: One year ago, I wrote to Attorney General Ashcroft about the increasing number of aliens who are penetrating the Quad Cities, an area that encompasses three...

Grassley Looks Forward to Senate Confirmation of Trade Nominees ? Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, praised the committee's approval today of the nominations of Charlotte Lane and Daniel Pearson to the International Trade Commission. The nominees now will be sent to the Senate floor for a vote on their confirmation. "I look forward...

Grassley, Baucus Question SEC on Post-Enron Rule-making ? Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, and Sen. Max Baucus, ranking member, have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission whether it plans to revisit a recent decision to allow accounting firms to provide tax consulting services to their audit clients. The senators asked...

Grassley Questions "Active Engagement" Requirement for Recipients of Farm Payments ? Sen. Chuck Grassley today sent a letter to the General Accounting Office to investigate the issue of "active engagement" relating to his campaign for legitimate, reasonable payment limits. Grassley is asking the GAO to look at whether USDA is properly enforcing the Farm...

Grassley: $1.4 Million to Iowa to Help Low-Income Families Pay for Home Heating ? Sen. Chuck Grassley today announced that President Bush has released $151,262,685 in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds. Iowa will receive $1,482,272 of this release, bringing their total fiscal 2003 funding to $32,238,691 so far this year. LIHEAP is the...

Grassley Continues to Work for Education Iowa Senator Re-Introduces Legislation to Support Gifted and Talented Students ? Sen. Chuck Grassley has introduced legislation to help states provide educational services to gifted and talented students. Grassley's bill would provide money to local school districts so that they can expand the availability of gifted...

Word On: Obesity in Youth   Q: What is the Youth Fitness and Obesity Institute? A: The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls launched an effort in 2001 to address what most view as an unhealthy epidemic among young Americans: sedentary lifestyles and overweight bodies. In its first year, the Youth Fitness and Obesity Institute set four goals to...

Kiss Tax Tricks Good-bye By Senator Chuck Grassley, of Iowa   They say death and taxes are inevitable. Apparently not however, if you have a team of high-paid lawyers, accountants and bankers scheming to engineer a sophisticated tax shelter designed to hoodwink the IRS and pad your profits. In fact, the IRS estimates such plans allow some corporations...

Grassley Works to Help Rathbun Lake ? Sen. Chuck Grassley has introduced legislation in support of the Rathbun Regional Water Association. The bill was introduced with Sen. Tom Harkin. "I've been working with the Rathbun Regional Water Association for a long time. I want to be make sure this gets done to enhance recreation on the lake, the water supply for...

Grassley Praises Committee Passage of Trade Bill New Duty Suspensions and Reductions Sec. 1101 through Sec. 1420: These provisions provide for the temporary suspension and/or reduction of duties on certain imports. The products covered in this chapter are largely products that are not commercially available in the U.S., are non-competitive, and are...

Grassley Looks to Protect Corn and Soybeans from Concentration ? Sen. Chuck Grassley today said that a study he requested from the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) in October was released today. Grassley asked NASS to study the nature, extent, and geographic dispersion of contract grain and oilseed farming. "I don't intend to allow the corn...

European Union's sanctions threat Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today made the following comment on the European Union's latest threat of sanctions against U.S. products over a tax dispute. "Last year, we convened a bipartisan, bicameral working group to look for solutions to the Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income...

Resolution on WTO Agriculture Negotiations Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, Sen. Kent Conrad, and a bipartisan group of committee members today offered an amendment to the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003. The amendment, a sense of the Senate resolution on World Trade Organization agriculture negotiations,...

Grassley Introduces FISA Legislation in Response to Shocking Report - At a press conference today to release a report on the FBI's problems with warrants obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Sen. Chuck Grassley also released a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller stating continued disappointment with the granting of an award to...

Grassley Receives Award for Work to Increase Child Support Payments Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, has received an award for assisting "disadvantaged children who are legally and morally entitled to child support payments." The award is the Golden Heart Award for 2003 and is from the Association for Children for...

Top FBI Official Retaliated Against Whistleblower for 60 Minutes Appearance DOJ Inspector General Substantiates Allegations ? Sens. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa and Patrick Leahy, of Vermont today released a Department of Justice Inspector General report that found that the senior FBI Assistant Director charged with policing FBI misconduct "exercised poor...

Top FBI Official Retaliated Against Whistleblower for 60 Minutes Appearance DOJ Inspector General Substantiates Allegations ? Sens. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa and Patrick Leahy, of Vermont today released a Department of Justice Inspector General report that found that the senior FBI Assistant Director charged with policing FBI misconduct "exercised poor...