WASHINGTON — Legislation is starting to move through Congress that would crack down on so-called sanctuary cities where local law enforcement officers have a policy of leaving immigration enforcement up to the feds. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, held a high-profile hearing this week that featured a panel of witnesses who had lost a loved one to crimes by people in the country illegally. Read More
This year's bird flu outbreak has devastated the egg and poultry industry. In Iowa alone, nearly 32 millions birds have died because of avian influenza. It's been a long-fought battle for poultry producers, but things are starting to improve. There hasn't been a new case in the state for three weeks. The Senate Ag Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday afternoon to talk about the impact of the bird flu and what's being done to prevent another outbreak. Read More
As Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R) Iowa, brings his 99-county tour to Wilton on Thursday, spectators like Dave Watkins worry about immigration reform. “We need to figure out a way to get legal immigrants into this country and illegal immigrants out of this country,” said Watkins, Moscow, Iowa. Sen. Grassley says he supports some reforms to immigration. Read More
Senator Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is demanding that the Department of Justice answer questions about Hillary Clinton’s role in the 2010 deal that gave the Russian government, through its wholly owned nuclear energy company known as ARMZ, a controlling 51 percent interest in Uranium One, the Canadian company that at the time owned 20 percent of U.S. uranium deposits. Read More
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and former Rep. Tom Latham scored well in a new index measuring bipartisanship, while Rep. Steve King and former Sen. Tom Harkin trended the other way. The rankings of the Iowa politicians come from the Bipartisan Index, created by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy to show how often members of Congress work across party lines. Read More
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wants the FBI to reveal more details about its spyware program, which can be used to collect passwords from a targeted computer and pinpoint its location. The Iowa Republican said he is wary of the FBI’s push to obtain more authority to use the spyware, which also has the ability to surreptitiously activate the computer’s camera and microphone, search the computer’s hard drive as well as intercept phone calls, texts and social media messages. Read More
Recent incidents involving mismanagement and inappropriate conduct by employees at the Internal Revenue Service have shaken what little confidence taxpayers had in the agency, according to Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. “This afternoon, I will announce the introduction of a bill aimed at insuring that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect taxpayers’ rights by preventing IRS abuses,” Grassley says. The IRS has never been and never will be an agency anyone is glad to hear from, but Grassley says taxpayers should at least have the piece of mind they’ll be getting a “fair shake” if there’s an issue. Read More
A program that grants permanent legal residency to immigrants who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. businesses would be reauthorized with increased federal oversight under a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. The Iowa Republican has been one of the biggest critics of the foreign investment program known as EB-5. The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, includes several measures to increase federal oversight of foreign investors and the U.S. businesses that take their money. Read More
Sen. Joni Ernst’s motorcycle ride and barbecue got most of the attention last weekend as Republican presidential candidates descended on Iowa, but the state’s senior senator spent plenty of time with the presidential prospects as well. Sen. Charles E. Grassley isn’t expected to have any trouble winning a seventh term, but he’s taking nothing for granted. He told Roll Call last week he anticipates making appearances with other candidates and said there would be more fundraisers for his own political efforts. Read More
After a series of town meetings recently, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley was left with at least one lingering question: Who was the nice person who gave him the quart of fresh strawberries? That turned out to be more difficult to answer than expected. The berry-gifting moment was captured by Register photographer Michael Zamora. He and columnist Kyle Munson were trailing Grassley to learn how the senator had become a viral Twitter phenomenon. The lawmaker received the fresh strawberries at a town hall meeting Friday, May 29, in Mount Pleasant. Read More
