News Releases

Grassley Announces $28.6 Million in Federal Rural Development Dollars for Iowa D.C. ? Sen. Chuck Grassley today said that several Iowa communities will receive grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for rural development projects. "The economic vitality of our rural communities is important to all Iowans. Small towns support the growth of...

Grassley Announces Plans to Convene Medicare Fairness Forum ? Sen. Chuck Grassley said today that he will bring together policy experts, health care providers, community leaders and politicians to discuss the Medicare payment structure that disadvantages Iowa for a forum in Des Moines later this year. "Iowans pay the same payroll tax as other Americans to...

Grassley Keeps Up Effort to Improve Safety for Air Travelers Senator Wants to Upgrade Air Force Radios, Better Communication with Commercial Airlines ? Sen. Chuck Grassley is continuing his effort to secure $25 million to upgrade Air Force radios and improve the communication capabilities of the F-15 aircraft that are flying homeland security...

Grassley Seeks to Remedy Farm Bill Discrimination Against Livestock Producers ? Sen. Chuck Grassley today joined an appeal to the Agriculture Secretary to make adjustments so that livestock producers can fully participate in the farm program, despite serious shortcomings in the way the 2002 farm bill was drafted for feedgrain farmers. Grassley said the new...

Grassley Seeks Crackdown on Thousands of Missing Government Computers New Problem Identified at the IRS - Sen. Chuck Grassley today called on top government officials today to get a handle on lost, stolen and missing government computers. "I'm worried that just as clothes dryers have the knack of making socks disappear, the federal government has...

Grassley Looks Out for Taxpayers Senator Questions Energy Department's Foot Dragging on Costs of Paducah Cleanup ? Sen. Chuck Grassley says it's time for the Energy Department to make a formal recommendation in a dispute over who is responsible for more than $1 billion in cleanup costs at the uranium plant in Paducah, Kentucky, the site of some of the...

Grassley, Baucus Call for Coordinated Response to ETI Case, Seek Action in September -- Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, and Sen. Max Baucus, chairman, sent the following letter to top administration officials today regarding the World Trade Organization ruling on the FSC repeal and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act of...

Grassley Calls on Customs to State Facts About Lost or Stolen Inventory Iowa Senator Asks Treasury Secretary to Publicly Release Audit -- Sen. Chuck Grassley today said that the U.S. Customs Service shouldn't hide the facts about its thousands of lost or stolen computers and dozens of lost or stolen weapons. Grassley pressed his case in a letter today to...

Grassley, Breaux Seek Nursing Home Staffing Information ? Sens. Chuck Grassley and John Breaux today asked the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for an update on preparing for a new requirement that nursing homes post nurse staffing information in a clearly visible location. The text of the senators' letter follows. August 7,...

Baucus, Grassley: Projects Divert Money from Uninsured Kids, Threaten Budgets ? Citing a new report, Sens. Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley are asking the Bush administration to explain projects that divert health dollars from covering uninsured children in violation of federal law. "We agree that covering uninsured adults is also an important public policy...

Missing DOJ inventory Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, made the following statement today after the Justice Department Inspector General released audits of missing weapons and computers at Justice Department agencies. (See wwwusdoj.gov/oig, under "What's New" for the reports). "It's no surprise that hundreds of computers and...

Grassley: FBI, INS Too Lax with Missing Weapons, Computers ? Sen. Chuck Grassley said that discipline has been "more lax than harsh" when it comes to FBI agents and other federal law enforcement officials losing track of their weapons. Grassley's comments came as the Inspector General (IG) for the Justice Department released audits of missing weapons and...

Senators Introduce Bill to Improve Nursing Home Staffing Data -- Sens. Chuck Grassley, John Breaux and John Rockefeller have introduced legislation to improve the accuracy and the accessibility of nursing home staffing data for consumers. "Nursing home quality and staffing go hand-in-hand," said Grassley, ranking member of the Finance Committee and former...

Word On: Pentagon Plastic   Q: What is wrong with the credit card program at the Department of Defense? A: After uncovering the outrageous fees the Pentagon paid for hammers and coffee pots in the mid-1980s, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a complete shock that the department has failed yet another financial management test. Once again, the Pentagon’s...

I'm Still Receiving Christmas Cards   Significant mail delays caused by enhanced security procedures put in place last October are interrupting the normal flow of mail delivery to my Washington office. Remarkably, I'm just now receiving December 2001 Christmas cards in August.   As any Iowan who has attended one of my town meetings may recall, I...

Grassley: Senate Committee Approves Charles Beach for U.S. Marshal ? The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of Charles Beach, of Des Moines, to serve as U.S. Marshal in Iowa's southern district, said Sen. Chuck Grassley Wednesday. The nomination now must be considered by the full Senate. "Charles Beach has more than 25 years of law...

Grassley Urges White House to Protect Corporate Whistleblowers ? Sen. Chuck Grassley, the co-author of new protections for corporate whistleblowers, today expressed concern over a White House interpretation of the provisions that weakens them. "I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see any room for interpretation here. Our intent was plain, to protect corporate...

Grassley on the Truth About Tax Cuts I rise today to discuss the one year anniversary of the bipartisan tax relief package. On June 7, 2001, President Bush signed the legislation. On Friday, June 7th of this year, the President marked the first anniversary of that event in Des Moines, Iowa. I was pleased to join the President for that anniversary...

Grassley on the Graham Amendment on Prescription Drugs I rise to oppose the amendment before us. For the third time in as many weeks, a mostly partisan Democrat prescription drug bill is about to fail on this floor. And beyond failing here, today's amendment fails seniors and taxpayers as well. It fails seniors because it fails to cover most of them. From...

Grassley Urges Trade Vote This Week Last Saturday the House of Representatives took an historic vote and passed the Conference Report on the Trade Act of 2002. It's time for the Senate to do the same. The Trade Act of 2002 contains several pieces of critical legislation which need to be enacted into law as soon as possible. Let me elaborate on two of...