WASHINGTON – Applications for summer internships with Senator Chuck Grassley are due March 15.

Internships are available for college age Iowans in Grassley offices in Washington, D.C., Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo.  There are two sessions for 2012 summer internships.  The first is May 21 through July 3.  The second is July 5 through August 17.

Senate interns assist staff members with administrative, legislative and communications work, including that of Grassley's staff on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where he serves as Ranking Member.  A video about Grassley internships produced by last year's summer interns can be seen here.

Grassley said he encourages young Iowans who are interested in learning more about government to apply.  "Working in a congressional office is a good way for college students and new graduates to learn more about the legislative branch of the federal government, while gaining valuable work experience.  Internships in my offices are available to students in all areas of study," he said.

Application forms are available on Grassley's Senate website and in Grassley's offices in Iowa. Due to security-related delays in postal mail delivery to U.S. Senate office buildings, internship applications should be emailed to intern_applications@grassley.senate.gov.  For additional information, send messages to intern_applications@grassley.senate.gov or call 202-224-3744.

Grassley Works to Ban Packer Ownership of Livestock

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley today said he's introducing his bill that would make it unlawful for a packer to own or feed livestock intended for slaughter.

"The 2012 farm bill is a great opportunity to deal with vertical integration before it's too late.  The ag concentration forums provided a real opportunity to make progress, but unfortunately the administration failed to follow through on any of the grass roots input and we're still at square one." Grassley said.  "Outlawing packer ownership of livestock would make sure the marketplace works for the farmer just as much as it does for the slaughterhouse."

Grassley's Packer Ban excludes single pack entities and packers that are too small to participate in the Mandatory Price Reporting program.  The bill also exempts farmer cooperatives where the members own, feed, or control the livestock themselves.

Grassley said that the CEO of a major slaughter house once told a group of farmers:  You wonder why we own livestock?  Well, we own livestock so that when prices are high we can kill our own and when prices are low we can buy from the farmer.

"This statement shows their intent and unfairness to the family farmer," Grassley said.  "Vertical integration leaves the independent producer with even fewer choices of who to buy from and sell to.  And, it hurts the ability of farmers to get a fair price for their products."

Here is a copy of the statement Grassley entered into the Congressional Record upon introduction.

Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley

Introduction of the Packer Ban

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation designed to help family farmers across this nation have a more level playing field when it comes to livestock markets.  The bill would prohibit meat packers from owning livestock.  The ownership of livestock by packers compromises the marketplace and hinders the ability of the farmer to receive a fair price.  It is simple, as one meat-packing executive once told me, packers own livestock so that when prices are high, they slaughter their own livestock.  When prices are low, they buy from farmers.

I would love to say opportunities for independent producers have gotten better since the last time we debated this bill during the 2008 Farm Bill.  But that simply isn't the case.  We are to the point where most farmers have to deliver their livestock to one of a few very large packers.  Farmers' bargaining power is diminished by the sheer size and economic position of the packers.  But beyond that, farmers have to compete with the livestock owned by the packing plant itself.  The packer ban would make sure the forces of the marketplace work for the benefit of the farmer as much as it does for the slaughterhouse.

I'm sure there will be folks in the packing industry that point out that farmers are doing okay right now, and that's great that farmers are experiencing a good period.  I am pleased anytime the hard work of livestock farmers results in a good price.  But I don't want my colleagues here in the Senate to be lulled to sleep and think just because prices are good right now means we don't have competition issues in the livestock industry that need to be addressed.  This is about ensuring farmers are able to get fair prices for years to come.  We need to work today, and implement this reform, to ensure the next generation of independent farmers has an opportunity to raise livestock and receive fair prices as a result of their hard work.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Grassley seeks top-level review and action against defense spending waste

WASHINGTON -- Senator Chuck Grassley today presented Defense Secretary Leon Panetta 16 audit reports that uncovered egregious waste and misconduct at the Department of Defense and called for accountability and the recovery of wasted money.

With $500 billion in controversial defense budget cuts proposed by the Obama administration, Grassley said the waste identified in the reports is the perfect place for the Pentagon to begin its belt-tightening campaign.

"If I had two words to characterize what I found in those 16 reports, they would be 'scandalous' and 'disgraceful,'" Grassley said in a letter he gave directly to Panetta during a hearing on Tuesday of the Senate Budget Committee.

Grassley urged the Secretary to prevent the findings and recommendations in the reports from being buried in the Pentagon bureaucracy.

The Budget Committee hearing focused on the President's defense budget request for the next fiscal year.  Eight of the audit reports highlighted by Grassley pertain to contract-related issues.  The other eight zero in on wasteful stimulus-bill funded projects.

"The officials who are responsible for what happened must be held accountable and improper payments need to be recovered," he said.  "Until there are meaningful consequences and real penalties for such gross waste and misconduct, the culture of the organizations involved will never change.  Unabated waste of the taxpayers' money will continue."

Grassley noted that the reports themselves cost $100 million a year to produce for the Secretary of Defense and Congress, so if the reports are ignored, the Secretary and members of Congress become party to the waste exposed.

The detailed letter from Grassley to Panetta can be seen here.

The reports identified in Grassley's letter concerning contracts involve purchases made through the Department of Energy, spare parts pricing practices; Defense Finance and Accounting Services procedures; body armor effectiveness; the Afghan National Police Training Program; and fuel contracts in Korea.

The eight stimulus-funded projects described in Grassley's letter involve a solar lighting project a the Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia; a wind turbine project at Fort Wainwright; Air Force projects on energy efficiency; photovoltaic projects at Navy and Marine Corps bases; a geothermal energy development project at the Naval Air Station in Falon, Nebraska; and a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning project at Naval Support Activity in Norfolk, Virginia.

Senator Chuck Grassley made the following comment about the tax reform proposal put forward today by the Obama Administration.

"The President's proposal for business tax reform is disappointing for its lack of substantive leadership, especially considering the importance of tax reform and tax certainty in getting America back to work and keeping America competitive in the global economy.  The President's proposal is overly vague with the exception of demagogic political proposals, like those related to aircraft and oil and gas depreciation rules.  Instead of a campaign document, and one that isn't a credible plan of action, American workers need and deserve leadership from the White House for a tax code that will encourage economic growth and job creation."