WASHINGTON – January 21, 2011 - Senator Chuck Grassley said today that eight Iowa counties have received a primary natural disaster designation and 27 Iowa counties have received a contiguous disaster designation from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, due to severe storms that occurred in 2010.

The following eight counties were named primary natural disaster counties due to severe storms that occurred from May 1 to September 20, 2010: Iowa, Jackson, Johnson, Louisa, Madison, Scott, Sioux and Washington.

The following 25 counties were named contiguous disaster counties due to severe storms that occurred from May 1 to September 20, 2010: Adair, Benton, Cedar, Cherokee, Clarke, Clinton, Dallas, Des Moines, Dubuque, Guthrie, Henry, Jefferson, Jones, Keokuk, Linn, Lyon, Muscatine, O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Polk, Poweshiek, Tama, Union and Warren.

The following two counties were named contiguous disaster counties due to severe storms that occurred from June 17 to November 1, 2010: Winnebago and Worth.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farm operators in both primary and contiguous counties are eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA).  This assistance includes FSA emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program.  Producers have eight months from the date of the secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance.  The department says the FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability. Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with further information.

"These emergency loans are available to help farmers recover from losses caused by storms in 2010," Grassley said. "I encourage all affected farmers in Iowa to apply for assistance."

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January 12, 2011

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will award nine grants totaling $860,292 to Iowa fire departments.

The Department of Homeland Security will distribute the money as shown below.

• Chickasaw Township Fire District will receive $35,150 to purchase a complete air-fill system and thermal imaging devices.
• Davenport Fire Department will receive $131,184 to purchase a mechanical chest compression device and fund training.
• Elkhart Fire Department will receive $39,140 to purchase monitoring and sampling devices and other supplies.
• Jackson Township-Ollie Fire Department will receive $169,575 to purchase a fire truck.
• Janesville Fire Rescue will receive $196,427 to purchase a fire truck.
• Latimer-Rural Fire Department will receive $8,550 to purchase medical and rescue supplies.
• Pomeroy Fire Department will receive $30,416 to purchase communication devices and a complete air-fill system.
• Pulaski Volunteer Fire Department will receive $64,600 to purchase a brush truck - a fire truck capable of fighting fires in rough terrain.
• Stockport Volunteer Fire Department will receive $185,250 to purchase a fire truck.

"Iowa's firefighters must have access to training and equipment in order to do their job to the best of their ability.  Their lives - and ours - depend on it," Grassley said.

Each year, thousands of local Iowa organizations, colleges and universities, individuals and state agencies apply for competitive grants from the federal government.  The funding is then awarded based on each local organization or individual's ability to meet criteria set by the federal entity administering the funds.

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by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Friday, January 7, 2011

The 112th Congress convened in January, with newly elected and reelected lawmakers taking the oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution."  It was an honor to reaffirm my allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and pledge to faithfully uphold my duties as a U.S. senator for Iowa for another term.

In a new congress, committee compositions change to reflect the new ratio of the majority to minority members of the U.S. Senate.  Each party sets its own rules to determine committee assignments.  Over the years, I've worked to secure key committee assignments.  Building seniority from these various posts provides a platform to work for a more accountable government and to make Iowans' voices heard on issues that hit close to home, especially those that impact working families, students, veterans, small business owners, family farmers and retirees.

In addition to the legislative and oversight responsibilities, the U.S. Senate also has the Constitutional authority of "advice and consent" and must approve nominations and treaties submitted by the President.  To gain a more thorough understanding of the issues -- from taxes, to transportation, national security, energy, agriculture, education, health care, banking, immigration and trade -- the Senate divides its work into 20 standing committees, 68 subcommittees and four joint committees which review and research policy proposals, convene hearings to field input from policy experts on pending bills, conduct fact-finding investigations and fine-tune legislation for consideration by the full Senate.

More than 3,000 bills are introduced each Congress and referred to the respective committee of jurisdiction for scrutiny.  The committee system allows lawmakers to develop expertise and specialize in specific issues.

In the last decade, I used my leadership position (alternating between Chairman and Ranking Member) on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee to advance the landmark 2001/2003 tax relief laws that lowered the federal tax rates on wages and investment.  Before the lame-duck session of Congress adjourned in December, I successfully pushed to extend these tax breaks for another two years.  Separately in that legislation, I won extension through 2011 of provisions for ethanol and biodiesel that are so important to domestically produced renewable energy and national security.

In other examples, I've used my assignment on the Senate Budget Committee to tighten the federal purse strings and urge big spenders to end the cycle of deficit spending.  Both on and off the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, as one of only two working family farmers in the Senate, I've championed the interests of the nation's producers to earn a good living and provide for the nation's food and energy security.

I will continue to serve as a senior member of the Finance Committee, but because of Republican Caucus term limits on committee leadership positions, I'm moving from the position of Ranking Member of the Finance Committee to Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.  Since taking my first oath of office in the Senate, I've been able to serve on the influential Judiciary Committee.  It's where I launched my crusade to empower whistleblowers to expose fraud against the taxpayers.  My 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act (a Civil-War era law) have helped the U.S. government recover more than $25 billion that otherwise would be lost to fraud.  The U.S. Justice Department also credits my updates to the False Claims Act with deterring untold billions more that otherwise would have been lost to fraud.  Most recently, I strengthened additional whistleblower tools that were included in the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act of 2009 to help plug legal loopholes used in court to escape accountability.  I'm keeping the heat on the federal bureaucracy to fight fraud with criminal prosecutions right now, too, asking both the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to account for stagnant prosecution numbers despite increased federal spending to target health care fraud.

I also intend to continue scrutinizing concentration in the agricultural industry.  It seems to get continually more difficult for the independent producer to capture a fair share of the food dollar due to consolidation.

I also will continue to work to reduce the cost of pharmaceutical drugs with pro-consumer legislation to make generic options available as quickly as possible.  And, the Ranking Member position on the Senate Judiciary Committee is responsible for rigorous review of lifetime appointments to the federal bench, including the Supreme Court of the United States.

As Congress gets down to the people's business in the New Year, I encourage Iowans to keep in touch.  21st century technology gives democracy even more opportunities to keep our two lanes of communication well traveled, from e-mail to interactive webcasts.  I also hope to see many of you face-to-face in 2011 during my constituent meetings.

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Statement by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance

Senate Vote on the Tax Agreement

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

"Preventing a tax increase is the best thing we can do for the economy right now.  It's common sense that you don't raise taxes in a recession, including on employers in small business where 70 percent of new jobs are created.

"The only thing better than passing this legislation would be to make tax relief permanent.  Uncertainty about tax rates works against America's economic recovery.  We've seen nearly 23,000 jobs in biodiesel disappear because its tax incentive was allowed to lapse at the end of last year.  Every small business owner who pays taxes on the individual level faces higher taxes if a tax increase isn't prevented across the board with this legislation.  There's a rule that if you want more of something, don't tax it.  We want more employment, so Congress should not allow higher taxes on employment.

"This legislation extends 51 tax incentives for different sectors of America's economy, including ethanol.  These tax policies have been extended previously because they've been proven to help create economic activity.  This legislative agreement also makes sure the government can't take more than half the estates of farmers and small business owners who have scrimped, sacrificed and saved their entire lives to build up a family business by imposing a 55-percent estate tax even after those business owners spent a lifetime paying income, investment and property taxes.

"Since World War II, the tax burden has averaged 18.2 percent of the gross domestic product.  Even if Congress were to extend all of the current-law tax levels permanently, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicates that taxes as a percentage of gross domestic product will still be much higher than they have been over the last 70 years.  So, even if we were to permanently keep the tax rates at current levels, Americans will be overtaxed when compared with what they've paid in recent history.

"We don't have a deficit problem because people are taxed too little.  We have a deficit problem because Washington spends too much. The deficit needs to be taken on through economic growth and reduced spending.  Revenue to the federal Treasury will continue to increase with the level of taxes as they are today, which this bill will secure for two more years.

"Congress needs to listen to the people and support less spending.  In 2010, I voted for $278 billion in spending reductions.  All of those reductions were rejected by the majority party's leaders."