WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said today that Anamaria Angel of Waukee has received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for the 2014-2015 school year.

Angel is the daughter of Jeanie Angel of Waukee.  She will graduate in May from Van Meter High School.  Angel participated in softball, track, concert band and marching band.  She is a member of the Junior ROTC Red Bull Battalion-Central Campus, MSA Softball and the National Youth Leadership Council.  Angel is also a trainer for Paws and Effect, a service dog training organization for autistic children.

"Admission to the service academies is highly competitive and a great honor," Grassley said.  "Students work very hard to earn this kind of opportunity.  I wish Anamaria well and thank her for her commitment to serve our nation."

Angel was among the 55 Iowans Grassley nominated this year for appointments to the U.S. service academies.  Information about seeking nominations can be found on Grassley's website.

For more than 200 years, these academies have educated and trained individuals to lead and command the U.S. armed forces.

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Q:        What is the status for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project?

A:        After nearly six years of rigorous regulatory review, approval for the more than 1,700-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline remains in limbo.  The TransCanada Corporation awaits a U.S. Presidential Permit to begin construction of the transcontinental infrastructure connecting a 36-inch pipeline system from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska.  Starting from the oil sands of Canada through the Bakken region in Montana and North Dakota, the pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels per day of crude oil to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast region.  Its completion has the potential to bring enormous economic growth and energy stability to the United States. Imagine if the United States would be able to supply 100 percent of its fossil fuel demand from North American sources.  Giving the green light to the Keystone XL pipeline would help get us closer to making that a reality.  There's a lot riding on the decision.  Policymakers and regulators are factoring into account its potential effect on job creation; energy independence; air, water and soil quality; and, economic growth.

Q:        What is holding up the approval process?

A:        As with most areas of public policymaking, politics looms large in the debate.  With all that's known to date, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is good for America.  It would improve our energy stability, jump-start economic growth and job creation (this is genuinely a shovel-ready jobs and infrastructure project of the kind the President likes to champion) and reduce reliance on foreign sources of oil, and that's beneficial for America's national security interests.  Let's consider a few of the President's possible choices.

1.         Transport oil through America's Midwest rather than importing it from the Middle East.

2.         Transport oil via underground pipeline rather than posing greater risks to public, traffic and environmental safety with alternative shipment by rail or road.

3.         Lead the way on regulatory approval, oversight and compliance of traditional fuels and oil development.

As the President has said when it comes to meeting the needs of America's energy supply-and-demand equation, the answer to the question is:  "All of the above."  Keep in mind that relentless scrutiny by environmentalists, landowners, residents and local leaders along the proposed route through the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska prompted TransCanada to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline.  The new route under review recognizes efforts to safeguard the natural resources of the Sand Hills.  Like many Iowa farm families, I appreciate the ecological impact and property rights issues that have been raised.  Robust debate helps identify problems and resolve differences.  That's the beauty of America's system of self-governance and checks and balances.

Q:        What are next steps?

A:        The U.S. State Department recently released its final long-awaited environmental impact review.  Its analysis concluded the pipeline would not bear significant environmental impact and would provide the safest way to transport oil.  It also found that rejection of the pipeline will not affect Canada's decision to develop these oil resources.  Let's not be naive.  If the President rejects the permit application, TransCanada is not going to pick up its marbles and get out of the oil business.  Canada will continue to develop its resources.  President Obama has an opportunity to advance U.S. energy security by forging a partnership with one of our most stable trading partners on the planet.  This is a golden opportunity to put the public interest above political interests.  From national security advisors to labor leaders, members of the military and veteran service organizations and bipartisan advocacy on Capitol Hill, there is ever-growing public support for Keystone XL.  In March 2013, President Obama told the Senate Republican Caucus that he would make a decision on the Presidential Permit before the end of 2013.  It's time for a Presidential decision in support of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today made the following comment on guidance from the Obama administration designed to guide banks in serving marijuana sellers in states that have legalized the drug.

"Marijuana trafficking is illegal under federal law, and it's illegal for banks to deal with marijuana sale proceeds under federal law.  Only Congress can change these laws.  The Administration can't change the law with a memo.  While the Justice Department's memo tries to guide prosecutorial discretion, that discretion shouldn't be used to facilitate illegal conduct.  The Justice Department is encouraging an improper use of prosecutorial discretion.  This is just one more area in which the Obama Administration is undermining our system of checks and balances and the rule of law."

During his State of the Union address, the President said that success is limited only by the "strength of our work ethic and scope of our dreams."  By pointing out "the son of a barkeep is Speaker of the House," the President identified a unifying principle in which 535 lawmakers and the President can agree.  America is the land of opportunity.  Americans enjoy an inherent right to work for their own success and keep the lion's share of what they've earned.

To allow space for a thriving economy and civil society in which Americans can pursue their own dreams, the nation's founders enshrined principles of self-governance in the U.S. Constitution that created separation of powers among three branches of government.  The people's branch makes the laws.  The executive branch enforces the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws.

That's why it's alarming to hear the President report to America that he will bypass Congress when he sees fit.  It appears he's prepared to circumvent the Constitution and ignore our system of checks and balances.  Armed with his phone and a pen, the President has signaled he will unilaterally evade the will of the people as expressed through one of the co-equal branches of government.  Considering steps already taken by this Administration in the last year, it is cause for concern when the President says that 2014 will be a "year of action."

Keep in mind where the Obama administration already has taken liberties with its interpretation of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress:

Advice and Consent. The Supreme Court in January heard oral arguments to determine whether President Obama overstepped a constitutional boundary by appointing nominees to the National Labor Relations Board.  The President claimed the Senate was in recess, unable to provide advice and consent.  However, the Senate was holding pro forma sessions, not adjourned in recess.

Controlled Substances Act. The Obama Administration sent a dangerous, mixed signal to youth and local law enforcement across America when the Department of Justice announced it would not prioritize the prosecution of the large-scale trafficking and sale of marijuana. The Controlled Substances Act criminalizes the cultivation, trafficking, sale and use of marijuana. I'm hearing from Iowa law enforcement of a troubling increased presence of marijuana stemming from Colorado's legalization of medical marijuana.  With full legalization now in effect, this problem is likely to worsen.  As co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I agree with a top official at the Drug Enforcement Administration who testified that efforts to legalize marijuana are "reckless and irresponsible."  Marijuana is widely recognized as a gateway drug to other illicit, lethal drugs.  Considering the implications to local law enforcement, public health and traffic safety, the Justice Department's "wink and a nod" approach to enforcing the Controlled Substances Act is more than disappointing.

Affordable Care Act. The Administration's signature health care law had a miserable debut in October with the rollout of HealthCare.gov.  Aside from on-going sign-up snafus, the President has enforced the Affordable Care Act as with the help of a roulette wheel, picking and choosing which mandates, waivers, penalties and fees to enforce.  It's a gamble the nation's recovering economy and growing national debt cannot afford.  Everyone agrees the Affordable Care Act has systemic flaws.  Now the President is using his pen to re-write the law without congressional consent.  It sure would be helpful if the President also had a magic wand up his sleeve.  He could use it to jump-start economic growth since productivity will drop over the next decade when as many as 2.5 million workers drop out of the workforce due to the new disincentive to work created by the Affordable Care Act, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.  When people exit the workforce, it's bad for economic growth.

So much for the President's call for a "year of action."  The Administration is on track for a year of overreaction.  Overstepping constitutional limits or enforcing laws for political convenience sow bad seeds into our system of self-government.  If allowed to take root, their growth would have a corrosive effect on the people's right to be heard through their elected representatives.

Centralizing power into the executive branch renders the commander-in-chief the only arbiter of the public good.  Therein lies the rub.  Limited government, separated into three branches, protects the individual rights of citizens.  Each branch has constitutional oversight authority to prevent overgrowth of one branch over the other on America's tree of freedom and liberty.

It's time for a reality check.  In keeping with the President's stated commitment to unprecedented levels of openness and transparency, I've written to the U.S. Attorney General to direct the Department of Justice to publicly disclose its legal analyses of all executive orders by the President.  Since passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Attorney General has been authorized to render opinions on matters of law and issues of constitutionality.

The American people and Congress ought to know if the President's executive orders have withstood rigorous constitutional review.  If the President can't persuade the people's branch on the merit of his ideas, the American people have a right to know if his ideas are being implemented in a way that is consistent with the Constitution.

Friday, February 14, 2014