WASHINGTON, DC- Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced legislation today that would authorize the establishment of a memorial in Washington, DC, to recognize African American patriots who fought for the United States during the Revolutionary War.

According to the Daughters of the American Revolution, over 5,000 African Americans, including over 800 from Connecticut, served as soldiers or sailors for the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.

This bill was inspired by the work of Maurice Barboza, a Connecticut native who, after discovering that a distant relative of his had fought for the American forces, has passionately fought for these patriots to receive the recognition they deserve.  Barboza has also founded the National Mall Liberty Fund, DC, a private nonprofit organization that will be entirely responsible for raising the funds needed to construct the memorial in Washington.

The legislation was previously introduced in the 111th Congress by former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), along with Senator Grassley.

Grassley co-sponsored similar legislation more than two decades ago.  During the 1980s, a group of young Iowans helped organize an initial push for such a memorial.  An African American Revolutionary War patriot named Cato Mead who originally was from Connecticut spent his final years in Southeast Iowa, and there is a monument dedicated to Mead in the Montrose Cemetery in Lee County, Iowa.

"The important role that many African Americans played during the Revolutionary War is too often overlooked," Lieberman said.  "This memorial will honor these patriots' sacrifice and ensure that this important part of our nation's history is not forgotten."

"The nation's capital is an appropriate place to honor the part that African Americans played in the American revolution," Grassley said.  "A memorial will broaden Americans' understand of the diversity of the patriots who helped to secure America's independence," Grassley said.

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WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa today pressed Attorney General Eric Holder to provide a complete and accurate accounting of the policy to allow guns to be purchased by known straw buyers and then transported across the border into Mexico.

In a letter received yesterday from the Office of Legislative Affairs, the department once again denied any knowledge of the policy.  The denial comes despite the documents that have been provided to the department that are contrary to the official stance.

Grassley and Issa said in a response to Holder that they will continue to conduct constitutionally mandated oversight of the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' policy to allow guns to be purchased by known straw buyers.

"We are extremely disappointed that you do not appear to be taking this issue seriously enough to ensure that the Department's representations are accurate, forthcoming, and complete.  We will continue to probe and gather the facts independently, as it has become clear that we cannot rely on the Department's self-serving statements to obtain any realistic picture of what happened," Grassley and Issa wrote.

Grassley began looking into allegations brought forward by Agent John Dodson, and more than a dozen other ATF agents after the Justice Department Inspector General failed to investigate their concerns.  The agents indicated that their supervisors kept them from stopping gun traffickers with the normal techniques that they had been successfully using for years.  They instead were ordered to only watch and continue gathering information on traffickers instead of arresting them as soon as they could.  In the meantime, the guns were allowed to fall into the hands of the bad guys even as agents told supervisors that it could not end well.  Many of the guns have subsequently been found in firefights along the border, including a December 14, 2010 firefight where Customs and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed.

Grassley and Issa's requests for information from the Justice Department have gone mostly unanswered about what transpired at the ATF and the Department of Justice during the time when Terry was killed and the policies instituted during Project Gunrunner that allowed guns to be sold to known straw purchasers and moved across the border without intervention.

As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Issa has begun issuing subpoenas to uncover the facts about how this reckless policy was approved.

Here is a copy of the text of today's letter to Holder.  Here is a copy of the May 2 letter to Grassley and the February 4 letter to Grassley.

 

May 3, 2011

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As Senator Grassley discussed on the phone with you yesterday, we are very concerned that the Department chose to send a letter containing false statements in response to his initial inquiry into the ATF whistleblower allegations related to Operation Fast and Furious.  To be more specific, the Department sent a letter on February 4, 2011 claiming that the whistleblower allegations were "false" and that "ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico."  When questioned in transcribed interviews last week in Phoenix, agents with first-hand knowledge of ATF operations contradicted that claim.

Specifically, in response to that exact quote, they said the Department's letter was "false" and could not explain how such a representation could be made to Congress in light of what they witnessed on the ground in Phoenix in late 2009 and 2010, prior to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  In fact, according to these witnesses, there was a specific strategy implemented to not "make every effort" but rather to avoid interdicting weapons in hopes of making a larger case against higher-ups in the trafficking organization.

Therefore, we were surprised and disappointed to see the Department repeat once again, in slightly different language, its denial in a letter received shortly after your telephone conversation with Senator Grassley.  Yesterday's letter reads, in part, "It remains our understanding that ATF's Operation Fast and Furious did not knowingly permit straw buyers to take guns into Mexico."

The documents and information previously provided to you demonstrate that the ATF urged gun dealers to go forward with sales to known straw buyers despite the concerns expressed by at least one dealer that the guns would be transferred to the border and possibly used against Border Patrol agents.  ATF and Justice officials assured that dealer that unspecified safeguards were in place to ensure that did not happen.  Yet, guns from that case were found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder and at crime scenes in Mexico.

In its latest denial, the Department seems to focus more on whether ATF knew guns were being trafficked to Mexico than whether the ATF knew they were being purchased by straw buyers.  While it might be typical in Washington for lawyers to narrowly parse statements and argue over fine distinctions to confuse the issue, those are not the kind of answers that we believe the Justice Department should give to Congress when asked straightforward questions about such a serious matter as this one.

You were asked to please explain whether you deny that the ATF allowed the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers, and if so, why given the evidence that was attached.  The reply was not signed by you, did not explain whether you stand by the denial, did not explain why, and did not meaningfully address the serious issues raised by the attached emails between a gun dealer and the ATF.

We are extremely disappointed that you do not appear to be taking this issue seriously enough to ensure that the Department's representations are accurate, forthcoming, and complete.  We will continue to probe and gather the facts independently, as it has become clear that we cannot rely on the Department's self-serving statements to obtain any realistic picture of what happened.

Sincerely,

Darrell Issa, Chairman                       Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight &                             Committee on the Judiciary
Government Reform                         United State Senate
U.S. House of Representatives               

Senator Grassley's Votes in 111th Congress Show His Support for Economic Growth and Job Creation

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27, 2011 - U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) received the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence today in recognition of his consistent support of manufacturers and their employees across the United States. The Award was presented at an event sponsored by NAM member Vermeer Corporation at its facility in Pella, Iowa.

Members of Congress who maintained a voting record of 70 percent or higher during the 111^th Congress (2009-2010) received the Award. Senator Grassley received a 77-percent key vote rating.

"On behalf of Vermeer Corporation and our employees, I thank Senator Grassley for championing the causes that will help manufacturers thrive in Iowa and across the United States," said Vermeer President and CEO Mary Andringa. "We're fortunate to have Senator Grassley supporting the efforts of Iowa manufacturers, advocating policies that will enable us to grow, create jobs, expand internationally and stay ahead of our global competition."

"Senator Grassley supports common-sense policies that will enable manufacturers to create and maintain good high-paying jobs in Iowa and throughout America," said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons.  "A vibrant manufacturing base is vital to getting our economy turned around and ensuring quality of life for all Americans. It is critical to have lawmakers like Senator Grassley whose actions consistently match their words when it comes to a pro-manufacturing agenda for economic growth and job creation."

Each key vote was selected by an NAM member-led advisory committee comprised of executives from small, mid-sized and large manufacturing companies. Members of Congress are notified in advance when key votes are pending and why the key vote designation has been made.

Key manufacturing votes for the 111th Congress included energy policy, taxes, regulations and labor law reform, among others. These policies are important components of the NAM's "Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America," a comprehensive plan for supporting jobs and the U.S. economy. You can view the Strategy at www.nam.org.

"The Award is a non-partisan indicator to help manufacturers and their employees sort out the true allies of manufacturing based on their votes on key issues that affect the manufacturing economy, jobs and U.S. competitiveness," Timmons noted.

Voting records for all members of Congress are available at www.nam.org/votingrecord along with further details about NAM Key Manufacturing Votes.

The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states.  Manufacturing has a presence in every single congressional district providing good, high-paying jobs.  For more information about the Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

-NAM-

Friday, April 15, 2011

WASHINGTON - In anticipation of the upcoming debate to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known in its current form as No Child Left Behind, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania introduced legislation last night which would make sure that federal education policy no longer overlooks the needs of high-ability students.

The new proposal is called the TALENT Act, or the To Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the Nation's Teachers Act.

The senators said the provisions in their bill, S.857, are designed to correct the lack of focus on high-ability students, especially those students in underserved settings, including rural communities, by including them in the school, district, and state planning process that already exists under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  The bill would raise the expectation that teachers have the skills to address the special learning needs of various populations of students, including gifted and high-ability learners.  It would provide for professional development grants to help general education teachers and other school personnel better understand how to recognize and respond to the needs of high-ability students.

The legislation also retools and builds upon the goals and purpose of the existing Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act so that education policy makers would continue to explore and test strategies to identify and serve high-ability students from underserved groups.  The senators said that these strategies should then be put into the hands of teachers across the country.

"America can no longer afford to ignore the needs of our brightest students and, by doing so, squander their potential.  Our legislation would make the modifications needed to federal education policy to develop and encourage the high achievement that's possible for so many gifted and talented students and, in turn, enhance the future prosperity of our nation," Grassley said.

"We must train our teachers to identify and encourage gifted and high-ability learners, particularly in underserved communities," said Casey.  "The potential of our children must be maximized for their sake and for the sake of our long-term economic growth."

Casey serves on the Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee, which is currently working through a bipartisan committee process to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Grassley has been a leading advocate in Congress for gifted and talented children.  Among other efforts, he sponsored legislation that became part of the original No Child Left Behind Act to expand the availability of gifted education services.