By The Iowa Statesman Audio from Senator Grassley’s May 7 Capitol Hill Report is available here. Iowa reporters ask questions on any subject during this 10-minute Q&A program. Participating this week was David Fannin of KMCD Radio. Topics included the U.S. Marshals Service, the avian flu, U.S. trade with […]
From Press Release U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) released the following statement after voting for the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act: “Passage of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act is a critical step forward to ensure congressional review of any deal with Iran. It certifies that no congressional sanction […]
By The Iowa Statesman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has released his weekly video address, in which he discusses the need for greater openness in government. “A government of the people, by the people and for the people must be accountable to the people,” he said. “And as I […]
From Press Release Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced his national campaign team today. The group includes over 25 individuals who bring a wealth of experience at senior levels of the top Republican presidential campaigns of the last two decades, including the Bush, Romney, Huckabee and Santorum campaigns and […]
From Press Release U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sponsored the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act, enacted into law in 2012, after investigating instances of abuse of the cards for shopping, gambling and other purposes. The law mandates reforms and oversight to prevent and catch abuse. Grassley made the […]
From Press Release A federal appeals court today deemed it illegal for the National Security Agency to collect bulk data without first obtaining a warrant. In reaction to the decision, Sen. Paul issued the following statement: “This is a monumental decision for all rs of liberty. I commend the […]
From Press Release Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa today said that the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act cleared the Senate. As chairman, Grassley shepherded the bill through the committee. The bill included measures proposed by Grassley to increase program accountability and efficient use of […]
From Press Release The Republican Party of Story County announced today a breakfast with Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. The event will take place on May 16 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Oakwood Road Church in Ames. Governor Jindal is wiy regarded as a potential presidential candidate […]
By The Iowa Statesman Wednesday, the U.S. Sen. Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), held a hearing on S. 1137, also known as the Patent Act. In his opening remarks to the committee, Grassley said abusive patent litigation is having a serious impact on small companies, […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor The Iowa Senate got into a party- squabble over spending for health and human services in FY 2016. And, with $1.346 billion being discussed, the contention was of little surprise to any regular observers of the General Assembly. Republicans offered a number of amendments to […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor The Republican-led Iowa House of Representatives, by voice vote, moved four bills to conference committee on Wednesday afternoon. The first bill sent to conference, Senate File 496, was the Senate’s Judicial Branch appropriations bill. The Senate had rejected a House amendment earlier in the […]
From Press Release Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called for a better explanation of certain spending practices within the U.S. Marshals Service’s Asset Forfeiture Division. The request follows incomplete and potentially misleading responses to questions Grassley raised in March surrounding the alleged […]
From Press Release Every year, 400,000 children enter the foster care system. Less well-known is the large number of children who are removed from their homes but informally placed with loving grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives. About 2.485 million children are raised in grandfamilies or kinship care. […]
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Republican candidate for President of the United States On April 29, 1607, after a four and a half month journey, 144 Englishmen landed at Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The first thing they did on the shores of what would […]
From Press Release Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad denied the following applications for commutation: • Edgar M. Cardona, age 40, committed his crime on November 11, 2003, in Pottawattamie County. He is currently serving a twenty-five year sentence for first-degree robbery. • Troy A. Midthus, age 48, committed his […]
From Press Release Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will sign three bills into law tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in the Governor’s Formal Office. House File 585 is an Act establishing an address confidentiality program in the Office of the Secretary of State for a victim of domestic abuse, domestic […]
By The Iowa Statesman U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) is adamant that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region must be armed in their fight against ISIS. On the heels of introducing a bipartisan bill to provide temporary emergency authority for President Obama to provide weapons and training […]
From Press Release Q: Why is the month of May designated to observe the nation’s foster care system? A: It’s a good opportunity to highlight an important issue that affects 400,000 children in America. Every year 255,000 kids enter the foster care system and the average stay lasts two […]
By U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley Young, old or in between, every worker collecting a paycheck has a stake in Medicare. The federal health insurance program covering older and permanently disabled citizens is funded through a payroll tax collected on wage earners and cost-sharing by recipients. Medicare has provided health […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor In an hour and a half, the Iowa Senate approved legislation than it had in the past week. The Senate bounced back and forth between the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Unfinished Business calendars, passing nine bills. Among them, senators to up two pieces […]
By The Iowa Statesman This morning, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on government transparency titled “Ensuring an Informed Citizenry: Examining the Administration’s Efforts to Improve Open Government.”At the onset of the hearing, committee chairman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) made the following statement: Good […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor After nearly five hours of floor debate Tuesday, the Iowa House of Representatives managed to adopt eight bills, including a couple of appropriations bills. The morning got off to a fast start with passage of three of the bills in just 41 minutes. The House […]
By The Iowa Statesman State Rep. Sandy Salmon (R-Janesville) has released her weekly Capitol Corner legislative update. She discussed efforts to combat the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N2 outbreak currently affecting Iowa’s poultry industry. Capitol Corner may be read in its entirety by clicking here.
By The Iowa Statesman The following are the prepared remarks of a floor speech given yesterday by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) regarding the allegations of misconduct at the U.S. Marshals Service. Mr. President, the United States Marshals Service performs many important functions. Marshals protect Federal Judges, they transport […]
From Press Release U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) issued the following statement after voting for the Congressional balanced budget: “This joint Senate-House budget agreement is a necessary roadmap to put Congress on the right path toward restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington. It sets the framework to balance the budget, […]
From Press Release U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced bipartisan legislation to provide for a temporary, emergency authorization of defense articles, defense services, and related training directly to the Kurdistan Regional Government. Other cosponsors include Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), and […]
By The Iowa Statesman Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) joined Senate colleagues and close air support experts at a press conference to support the effort to prevent the premature divestment of the A-10. The Iowa Senator stressed the importance of the A-10 as a resource for American men and […]
From Press Release Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today pressed the Drug Enforcement Administration to answer questions that have gone unanswered for nearly three years regarding the agency’s detention of Daniel Chong. Grassley began asking questions shortly after news reports surfaced that Mr. Chong was […]
By The Iowa Statesman Tony Orlando sang a rousing renditions of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ol’ Oak Tree” and “America is My Hometown,” his college roommate gave the invocation, and the local Boy Scout Troop from his hometown presented the colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance, […]
From Press Release Today, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) released the following statement welcoming Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, and Gov. Mike Huckabee to the race for the Republican nomination for President of the United States: “The entry of three candidates into the 2016 GOP primary this week is […]
By The Iowa Statesman This morning, the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control held a hearing on improving the management of the nation’s controlled substance quota process. At the beginning of the hearing, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) issued the following prepared statement: Today’s hearing addresses a timely […]
From Press Release U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today led a bipartisan group of senators pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure the avian flu outbreak receives the highest prioritization for the department. In a letter, Grassley and 14 other senators pressed leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee […]
From Press Release Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt pressing the agency to further clarify guidance for how federal funds may be used to implement the […]
By Iowans for Tax Relief As we discussed last week, Legislators missed their self-imposed dead for adjournment last Friday. Starting Monday the Iowa Legislature is in overtime and it does not appear Legislators will wrap up their work any time in the near future. There was some progress on […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor In the run-up to passage of the omnibus transportation funding bill, Senate File 257, which resulted in the 10-cent increase in Iowa’s motor fuel sales and use tax, a number of lobbyist groups declared their support for the legislation. But only two of those groups, […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor UPDATE: Following The Iowa Statesman’s original report, Caffeinated Thoughts editor Shane Vander Hart received the following response to questions about state Rep. Josh Byrnes’ about homeschool families in Iowa: “Shane, you are so out of touch. I represent a group of constituents. I don’t […]
By The Iowa Statesman Running the United States government might not be brain surgery, but a retired neurosurgeon from Detroit thinks he knows what it will take to get the country back on track. Dr. Ben Carson officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination today in his […]
From Press Release Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has ordered all flags on the Capitol Complex to be flown at half-staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday in observance of the Iowa Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony which is to be held at 10 a.m. that day at the […]
By The Iowa Statesman Leave it to former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina to take the high-tech approach in announcing her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. The former tech businesswoman will make the announcement at 3 p.m. today during a special “town hall” event hosted on the application […]
From Press Release Friday, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, applauded the Senate’s passage of a measure that helps law enforcement agencies apprehend criminals who have injured or killed police officers. The Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act also creates a […]
U.S. Rep. David Young Iowa’s Third Congressional District James Madison, in Federalist No. 57, mocked the idea that the federal government would exempt themselves from laws that applied to other people. They “can make no law,” he wrote, “which will not have its full operation on themselves and their […]
By The Iowa Statesman This afternoon, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was joined by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Mark Schouten to discuss the state’s response to HPAI H5N2 outbreak in Iowa. As part of the discussion, Branstad also […]
From Press Release Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad today signed the following bills into law: House File 347: An act relating to the licensure of child care programs operated or contracted for by a school district or accredited nonpublic school and including effective date provisions. House File 447: An […]
By State Rep. Rob Taylor (R-West Des Moines) House District 44 House Republicans released their Fiscal Year 2016 General Fund budget targets, and for the fifth year in a row, House Republicans have proposed a budget that spends less than the state will take in. For Fiscal Year 2016, […]
By The Iowa Statesman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has released his weekly video address, in which he discusses his bill to enhance “529” college savings programs. “This program has proven to be a successful tool to help families save for college,” he said. “I introduced legislation back in […]
From Press Release U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA 4) released the following statement after the House Armed Services Committee accepted an amnesty amendment during the markup of H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act: “I was disappointed to see that the House Armed Services Committee accepted an amnesty amendment […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor The painfully slow process of adopting a FY 2016 budget continued Thursday morning and evening in the General Assembly with House passage of its own administration and regulation and education appropriations bills. During floor debate on House File 659, the atmosphere of the chamber was […]
From Press Release The bipartisan, bicameral Iowa egation, led by Congressman Dave Loebsack, today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide any assistance they can under their statutory authority to help affected states combat the recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu. […]
From Press Release Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today are introducing legislation to ensure that at-risk youth are fairly and effectively served by juvenile justice grant programs. Their legislation updates existing law by promoting improved transparency and accountability at the state and federal level. It […]
From Press Release U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) joined a bipartisan group of legislators Thursday who introduced a bill to reauthorize and strengthen the National Guard State Partnership Program. The State Partnership Program Enhancement Act of 2015, which has a corresponding bill in the House of Representatives, will permanently […]
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