FACT CHECK: Chuck Grassley’s Work for Iowa Exposes Ex-Rep. Finkenauer’s Absurd Claims

For Immediate Release
February 2, 2022
 
DES MOINES—Yesterday, on liberal MSNBC, Ex-Rep. Abby Finkenauer continued her crusade to gaslight Iowa voters by saying, “What I did in two years in Congress I would put up against [Grassley’s] last 10-20 any day of the week.”

The idea that Ex-Rep. Finkenauer has achieved more than Sen. Grassley over any period is laughable. She’s never even had a bill she introduced signed into law. Not in Congress, and not even when she served two terms in the Iowa State House. She has never written a bill of her own that became law.

“Ex-Rep. Finkenauer can talk until she’s blue in the face. Senator Grassley outworks her six ways to Sunday and then some,” said Jennifer Heins, campaign advisor. “She just doesn’t have any significant legislative accomplishments.”

Just in the last few years, Sen. Grassley has held key leadership positions in the U.S. Senate including President pro tempore, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and presently ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Finkenauer held zero leadership positions to leverage Iowa’s voice in Congress.

In contrast, Sen. Grassley led the confirmations of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh through the U.S. Senate and was instrumental in the confirmation of Justice Coney Barrett. In addition, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Grassley steered to confirmation more than 200 federal judges for lifetime appointment during the Trump administration. 

At the helm of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Grassley wrote and negotiated much of the CARES Act at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, including his work to send financial lifelines to help rural hospitals, small businesses and households stay afloat and boost federal unemployment insurance to help America’s workers suddenly out of a job through no fault of their own.

In 2019, Sen. Grassley secured a five-year extension of the biodiesel tax credit in the end of year tax package to benefit Iowa farmers, producers and consumers. He also wrote the SECURE Act which enacted important reforms to expand and improve access to retirement savings, particularly by making it easier and more affordable for small businesses to offer a retirement plan for their workers. Sen. Grassley also negotiated natural disaster relief including support for Iowans hit by the 2020 derecho storm, securing federal recovery assistance for Iowa farmers through the USDA WHIP program.

As one of only two crop farmers in the United States Senate, Sen. Grassley led the United States Mexico Canada trade agreement to bolster exports for agriculture. As President pro tempore, he signed the bill after steering it to passage in the Senate before sending it on to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

Sen. Grassley is known as the Patron Saint of Whistleblowers for his decades of advocacy standing up for those that blow the whistle on wrongdoing in government. He roots out waste, fraud and abuse to make government accountable to the people. In 2021, Sen. Grassley sent 168 oversight inquiries to federal agencies. The Department of Justice recently announced Sen. Grassley’s 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act are credited with recovering more than $70 billion to the federal treasury on behalf of the American taxpayer.

Sen. Grassley has consistently been ranked one of the top bipartisan senators in the U.S. Senate by the Lugar Center registering at the 8th and 19th most bipartisan senator. In Finkenauer’s single term she ranked 70th on the same index of House members.

The Center for Effective Lawmaking has named Sen. Grassley the most effective lawmaker of all 100 senators in the 115th Congress [2017-2019] and 6th in the 116th Congress [2019-2021]. During the two years Finkenauer was in office she ranked 93rd out of 240 Democrats in the House of Representatives for effectiveness. 

So far in this Senate term, Sen. Grassley has had 13 stand-alone bills signed into law by the President of the United States, including measures to help law enforcement and first responders; strengthen elder justice and child trafficking laws; expand whistleblower protections and more⸺all are bipartisan bills. This list does not include bills that were a part of end of year packages.

1. S.3354 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 08/16/2018) Cosponsors: (9) Committees: Senate – Judiciary Latest Action: 10/11/2018 Became Public Law No: 115-267. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

2. S.2946 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 05/24/2018) Cosponsors: (11) Committees: Senate – Judiciary Latest Action: 10/03/2018 Became Public Law No: 115-253. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

3. S.2559 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 03/15/2018) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: Senate – Judiciary | House – Judiciary Committee Reports: S. Rept. 115-261, S. Rept. 115-261 Latest Action: 10/09/2018 Became Public Law No: 115-261. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

4. S.1869 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Whistleblower Protection Coordination Act Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 09/27/2017) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Report: S. Rept. 115-196 Latest Action: 06/25/2018 Became Public Law No: 115-192. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

5. S.1312 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 06/07/2017) Cosponsors: (26) Committees: Senate – Judiciary | House – Judiciary; Education and the Workforce; Foreign Affairs Latest Action: 12/21/2018 Became Public Law No: 115-393. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

6. S.419 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 02/16/2017) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: Senate – Judiciary Latest Action (modified): 06/02/2017 Became Public Law No: 115-36. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

7. S.178 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 01/20/2017) Cosponsors: (15) Committees: Senate – Judiciary | House – Judiciary; Energy and Commerce Committee Report: S. Rept. 115-9 Latest Action: 10/18/2017 Became Public Law No: 115-70. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

8. S.4091 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Emergency Aid for Returning Americans Affected by Coronavirus Act Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 06/29/2020) Cosponsors: (1) Latest Action: 07/13/2020 Became Public Law No: 116-148. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

9. S.3607 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act of 2020 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 05/05/2020) Cosponsors: (22) Committees: Senate – Judiciary Latest Action: 08/14/2020 Became Public Law No: 116-157. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

10. S.2258 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 07/24/2019) Cosponsors: (9) Latest Action: 12/23/2020 Became Public Law No: 116-257. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

11. S.744 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Effective Prosecution of Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents Act of 2019 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 03/12/2019) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate – Judiciary | House – Judiciary Latest Action: 07/25/2019 Became Public Law No: 116-31. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

In the first session of this Congress, Sen. Grassley has steered two more bills into law, with more to come:
 
12. S.1511 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021 Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 04/29/2021) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: Senate – Judiciary Latest Action: 11/18/2021 Became Public Law No: 117-61. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)

13. S.409 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) A bill to provide for the availability of amounts for customer education initiatives and non-awards expenses of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (Introduced 02/24/2021) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate – Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Latest Action: 07/06/2021 Became Public Law No: 117-25. (TXT | PDF) (All Actions)
 
Background: Ex-Rep. Abby Finkenauer is the first member of Congress in Iowa to be defeated after just one term in 54 years. Finkenauer is in a four-way primary for the Democrat nomination. The Grassley campaign has more than five times the cash on hand than Finkenauer’s campaign, reflecting a groundswell of support heading into this election year.
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