Rankings Focused on Outcomes-Based Data

TROY, NY (11/10/2015)(readMedia)-- Kaplan University-Davenport Campus has been ranked 125 among the best colleges for veterans by College Factual (www.collegefactual.com), a trusted resource that uses customizable tools and outcomes-based rankings systems to guide students through the college selection process.

A number of factors important to veterans were used to determine the ranking. Some important data points are how affordable the school is to veterans, the size of the veteran population at the school, whether the school accepts ACE credits and offers flexible learning options, and availability of veteran resources such as a veteran's office on campus.

The ranking also includes important quality metrics such as graduation and retention rates, reported earnings of graduates, the percentage of full-time teachers, and the average student loan default rate.

In addition to Kaplan University-Davenport Campus's placement in Best Colleges for Veterans Overall, the institution also ranks highly for veterans in Non-Professional General Legal Studies, earning a 1 spot out of 31. The institution also is ranked 4 out of 122 for veterans in Health and Medical Administrative Services.

You can see all of the school's rankings at http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/kaplan-university-davenport-campus/rankings/badges/.

"We serve Veterans in "3-D", says Bill Phelan, CEO of College Factual. "We provide great data and insights, leading with hundreds of Veteran specific rankings at the college, major, and program level. Through tools like our GI Bill calculator, we enable Veterans to maximize the dollars they have earned. Our decision support tools enable Veterans to make the most informed decisions possible, thus maximizing the true value of their GI Bill Benefits."

College Factual offers numerous tools specific to veterans and active-duty military to help them transition successfully to an academic environment. This includes tools such as Military Majors Mapper, as well as a GI Bill calculator developed with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association (IAVA) located at www.newgibill.org.

College Factual's ranking system is based on a series of algorithms that include information from the Department of Education, nationally mandated data reporting for institutions, Veterans Affairs, and Payscale.

For more information about College Factual's rankings, visit www.collegefactual.com or contact media@collegefactual.com.

Grassley Asks for Details on Justification for Costly Anhydrous Ammonia Rule

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley is sending a letter to Labor Department Secretary Tom Perez about a rule governing anhydrous ammonia retailers.

The letter is in response to a revised regulation where the Labor Department and OSHA re-interpreted a statute governing aspects of process safety of facilities after an ammonium nitrate explosion in West, Texas.  Previously, the department's interpretation of the same rule had exempted retail sellers of anhydrous ammonia.

The new interpretation eliminates that exemption and could force thousands of anhydrous retailers to spend nearly $30,000 to come into compliance with the new requirements.

"With anhydrous ammonia application being a seasonal occurrence, it will be difficult for small retailers who supply farmers to absorb those costs, and some may be forced to stop selling anhydrous," Grassley said.  "Safety measures are very important and should absolutely be a top priority, but eliminating the retail exemption may be a knee jerk reaction to a granular form of nitrogen, which is very different from the anhydrous ammonia used by farmers."

Grassley's letter requests more information about how the Labor Department came to the conclusion that the retail exemption should be eliminated.

A signed copy of Grassley's letter can be found here

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Drug Caucus to Hold Hearing on Drug Trafficking Across the Southwest Border, Oversight of U.S Counterdrug Assistance to Mexico

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, will hold a hearing entitled, "Drug Trafficking Across the Southwest Border and Oversight of U.S Counterdrug Assistance to Mexico."

Date/time: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 at 10 a.m. EST

Location: 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Description: The hearing will focus on the increase in illicit narcotics crossing the Southwest border, the cartels profiting from this activity, and the nature and effectiveness of U.S. counternarcotics assistance to Mexico in reducing this flow, combatting corruption, and strengthening the rule of law.  The following witnesses have confirmed that they will testify:

  • Mr. Michael Botticelli, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Washington, D.C.
  • Ambassador William Brownfield, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Washington, D.C.
  • Mr. Jack Riley, Acting Deputy Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington, D.C.
  • Todd Owen, Assistant Commissioner Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Washington, D.C.

 

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Senator Grassley on Veterans and Their Service

 The video is available here.

My message today is recognizing and thanking the nation's 21 million veterans.

Iowa is home to more than 226,000 of these patriots who answered the call to serve in the Armed Forces.

As a nation, we owe them a debt of gratitude.

We also owe them a responsive, competent Department of Veterans Affairs.

That means continuing to root out employee misconduct and a culture of corruption within the VA so that veterans receive the benefits and services they deserve.

I'm looking at paid administrative leave at the VA, where employees are paid to stay home.

I'm also supporting legislation by Senator Marco Rubio to give the VA Secretary the tools he says he needs to eliminate poor performing employees.

And I'm working on legislation with Senator Mark Kirk to empower good employees by protecting whistleblowers like the ones that exposed the waiting list scandal.

Good treatment of veterans includes better mental health care.

Congress this year passed a bill I cosponsored, The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, that will help.

Congress also approved reforms to the Veterans Choice Program that allow more veterans to qualify to receive health care from non-VA health care providers in their local communities.

The VA is resisting efforts to implement the program as Congress intended, and I support legislation to bring the agency in line.

My six state offices stand ready to help Iowans with veterans matters.  I've also set up a fellowship as my liaison to veterans all over the state.  Don Bailey is the first to serve in this capacity.

His email address is VeteransFellow_Grassley@grassley.senate.gov.

As I say to Iowa veterans I meet during my county meetings and those from the Honor Flights in Washington, D.C.: You shall not be forsaken, nor forgotten.

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Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Special Government Employees and Clinton Email Investigation

November 10, 2015

Mr. President, oversight of the Executive Branch by the Congress is as old as our Constitution and it is a critical role.

I believe oversight leads to better government, better laws and saves the taxpayers money.

That is why I work very hard at oversight.

I went after the Reagan Defense Department for wasteful spending in the '80s.

I held up Department of Justice nominees during the Bush Administration to get my oversight letters answered, just as I am doing now with the Department of State.

And I voted in support of giving the Judiciary Committee the authority to issue subpoenas regarding its inquiry into the firing of US Attorneys during the Bush Administration.

My belief in and exercise of the oversight role by Congress is long standing and non-partisan.

Yesterday the Senate minority leader said that my investigation into the Department of State's use of special government employee designations and how Secretary Clinton's private email arrangement interfered with Freedom of Information Act compliance is political.

This simply is not so.

This investigation involves many things, but it does not involve politics.

My investigation into the potential abuse of the special government employee designations and Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email server and the potential spillage of classified information is not political, it is evidence based.

Unfortunately, the Department has been largely uncooperative since June of 2013.

The Department's lack of cooperation has caused me to place 22 holds on its nominees.

And to correct the senior senator from Nevada, my holds do not include 600 Foreign Service officers and do not include individuals from Iowa.

But with respect to my pending requests to the Department of State, I am still waiting for a full production of documents from my June 2013 oversight request.

That is two and a half years and the State department has still not produced the materials I have requested.

The Department has implemented several clever strategies to delay the process.

The Department routinely assigns new employees to handle different requests.

Each time a new person is assigned we get the same excuses why they cannot deliver on requests - "I'm new so I don't know who to talk to and where to find the documents."

For years, the Department has delayed in productions, each time with more excuses.

For instance, the Department still refuses to answer whether or not Secretary Clinton's private server was approved.

The Department has failed to provide emails for Department personnel communicating about Secretary Clinton's private server that we have strong reason to believe exist.

The Department took over two months to schedule a single interview with a former employee.

The Department has refused for over two months to provide instructions it gave to Clinton attorney David Kendall to secure the thumb drives that contained classified information - even though the Department was quoted in the news as providing those instructions.

The Department has failed to provide travel reimbursements and leave documents for its employees.

And on August 5 of this year, I requested classification non-disclosure forms for Secretary Clinton, Huma Abedin, and Cheryl Mills.

On November 5, the Department produced those documents to a FOIA requestor but not to the Committee.

And while the Department provided the documents to that requestor, Department employees told my staff they had been unable to find those documents.

Not only has the Judiciary Committee experienced unacceptable Department of State delays in receiving information, others inside and outside of the government have experienced delays as well.

The Associated Press sued the State Department over the failure to satisfy repeated document requests under the Freedom of Information Act related to these same issues.

One of these requests dates back five years ago.

Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the judge responsible for this case, scolded the State Department for its failure to produce documents on time:

"Now, any person should be able to review that in one day ? one day. Even the least ambitious bureaucrat could do this."

Let there be no mistake about this investigation.

This investigation is centered on the Freedom of Information Act, a law that is within the Judiciary Committee's jurisdiction.

This investigation is centered on potential abuse of the special government employee designation that allows government employees to be paid by outside employers, in this case hundreds of thousands of dollars by a consulting firm run by a former Clinton Administration employee.

This investigation is centered on potential violations of the Federal Records Act and holding government officials accountable for their actions.

This investigation is centered on whether public officials properly handled classified information.

Nobody is above the law.

Senior government officials and regular employees should get equal treatment under the law, and that treatment should be fair and objective.  It should not depend on what your position is.

When it looks like the treatment is different, we have to figure out what is going on.

For example, it looks like other government employees are subject to very different treatment when accused of mishandling classified information.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Jason Amerine, a decorated war hero, contacted Congress to try to warn about bureaucratic problems with U.S. hostage recovery efforts, problems that he believed were putting lives at risk.

He was accused of improperly transmitting classified information to Congress in the process.

This war hero was removed from his job; was escorted out of the Pentagon; had his clearances suspended; had his scheduled retirement delayed indefinitely; was fingerprinted and had a mugshot taken; was threatened with a court-martial; and was subject to an extensive investigation.

After almost a year of being investigated, the Army decided not to court-martial Lieutenant Colonel Amerine.

Instead he was awarded the Legion of Merit for "exceptionally meritorious service" and finally allowed to retire.

But look at how differently he, a war hero, was treated when accused of mishandling classified information compared to Secretary Clinton and her associates.  Where was the minority leader in trying to help this war hero from these attacks from the Administration?

Nowhere to be seen is the answer to that.

It's apparent that some have a selective memory when it comes to putting value on oversight and investigations.

But, I do not.

I have been consistent in my oversight role my entire career investigating Republicans and Democrats.

My oversight and investigations unit is involved in many investigations.  The vast majority of them have nothing to do with Secretary Clinton.

Looking out for the public interest isn't a waste of time, and I'll keep at it regardless of misguided attacks on my motivations or mischaracterizations of my work.

I will continue this investigation because the American people have a right to the truth and government officials have an obligation to answer to We the People.

I yield the floor.

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Featuring Care For Yourself, Pink Pass, The Voucher Program and Komen Quad Cities

DAVENPORT, IA - NOVEMBER  2015 -Gilda's Club is panel to discuss Breast Health Continuum of Care on Thursday, November 19th at 5:30 pm.

Attendees will learn how organizations such as Care For Yourself, Pink Pass, The Voucher Program and Komen Quad Cities can assist you from pre-screening through treatment.

The panel will discuss the importance of early detection, how to earn incentives for going to your mammogram, and programs that make breast health screenings affordable. Open to the general public.

Dinner included. For more details and to register, please call Gilda's Club at 563-326-7504 or email kelly@gildasclubqc.org.

About Gilda's Club

Free of charge, Gilda's Club Quad Cities provides support, education and hope to all people affected by cancer.  As a Cancer Support Community affiliate, we are part of the largest employer of psychosocial oncology mental health professionals in the United States.  Our global network brings the highest quality cancer support to the millions of people touched by cancer.

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Iowa's plan phases in Medicaid efforts over two years for the most vulnerable Medicaid patients

 

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)  - Today Gov. Terry Branstad met with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell in Washington, DC.  In the encouraging meeting they discussed Iowa's Medicaid modernization plan aimed at improving quality, access, and health care outcomes and creating a more predictable and sustainable Medicaid program that begins January 1, 2016.  Specifically, Gov. Branstad outlined how Iowa has learned from the more than two dozen other states using this approach and how Iowa will begin a two-year phase-in starting January 1, 2016.

"We began Iowa's Medicaid modernization plans in January 2015 and will be phasing in services over a two-year time period.  I appreciate the mutual interest in improving patient outcomes that HHS and the State of Iowa share," said Branstad.  "I also appreciate the collaboration we have had in the past with federal officials including the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, which has increased the healthcare coverage in our state, and look forward to implementing our patient-centered Medicaid plan beginning on January 1, 2016."

Iowa has learned best practices from 30 other states who have taken steps to modernize Medicaid.  Iowa's phased-in approach ensures a smooth transition starting on day one for all Medicaid patients.  For the first two years, Medicaid patients who receive long-term care services and supports (LTSS) can keep those same services without any change.  Those services include HCBS (Home Community Based Services) waiver services, nursing facilities, and Intermediate Care Facilities for the Intellectually Disabled.

The measures outlined ensure patients have the option to keep the same services they receive today through the Medicaid modernization transition.  To protect doctors and Medicaid providers, they can sign up with as many Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) as they wish and MCOs cannot restrict enrollment for doctors and providers.  Additionally, doctors and providers who sign up with a plan are protected from reimbursement cuts and cannot be paid less than current Medicaid rates.

Phase-in measures protecting patients include :

  • For the first 3 months, all existing Medicaid authorizations will be honored by the MCOs.
  • For the first 6 months, Medicaid patients can keep their current physical & behavioral health providers (primary care, hospitals, specialists etc.) and case managers even if they're out-of-network.
  • For the first 2 years, the most vulnerable Medicaid population patients can keep their current long-term services including nursing facilities, HCBS waivers, ICF/ID's (Intermediate Care Facilities for the Intellectually Disabled) services, home health services, community mental health center services, and substance use disorder treatment services even if they're out-of-network.
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Tickets On Sale November 20

DES MOINES, IA (11/10/2015)(readMedia)-- Break out your hairspray, bomber jackets and neon leggings to help us celebrate Hairball's return to the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Friday, January 29. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 20. Admission is $23 in advance or $30 the day of the show.

Hairball is the world's ultimate 80s arena rock impersonation act, recreating the good-time party atmosphere of the decade with unmatched authenticity. Rock Star Bob and Kris Voxx bring the musical and performance styles of Guns n' Roses, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Ozzy, AC/DC, Journey, Poison and more to the stage in dead-on visual and vocal performances. By alternating stage time, these performers rapidly change elaborate costumes, seamlessly transitioning from Paul Stanley of KISS to Joe Elliot of Def Leppard without a break in the action. Their ability to cop the persona of the era's legendary front men makes Hairball an international favorite.

Tickets will be available through www.iowastatefairgrounds.org. Walk up orders will be available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Administration Building located on the Iowa State Fairgrounds starting November 20th. All tickets are general admission, a $3 convenience charge applies to all tickets and parking is free. The day of the show, the Jacobson Exhibition Center ticket window will open at 4 p.m. for purchases if tickets remain.

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The Fairgrounds are located at East 30th and East University Avenue, just 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines. For more information, call 800/545-FAIR or visit iowastatefairgrounds.org.

Agency Funding Fix Still Needed to Complete Necessary Work to Make Forests More Resilient to Fire

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2015 -- The U.S. Forest Service has increased the pace and scale of forest restoration by nine percent since 2011, according to a report released today. The significant progress comes in the face of mounting challenges to the agency including record droughts, longer wildfire seasons and the increasing percentage of the agency's budget spent fighting wildland fires.

Despite the gains, at least 65 million National Forest System acres are still in need of restoration work. The rising cost of wildfire suppression, as fires have become more intense and more expensive to fight in recent years, has taken funding away from restoration, watershed and wildlife programs, limiting the Forest Service's ability to do the work that would prevent fires in the first place.

With a record 52 percent of the Forest Service's budget dedicated to fighting wildfire in 2015, compared to just 16 percent in 1995, the Forest Service's ability to do more restoration work within the current budget structure is severely constrained by the increasing proportion of resources spent on fire.

Before a single fire broke out in 2015, the Forest Service started the Fiscal Year with a budget of $115 million less for all work not related to fire than the previous year. Budget constraints have also reduced staffing for restoration, watershed and recreation by nearly 40 percent, from about 18,000 in 1998 to fewer than 11,000 people in 2015.

"The Forest Service has made tremendous progress in conducting restoration work to keep our forests healthy and resilient. However, because of the growing cost of fighting more frequent and dangerous wildfires, much of the work that supports healthy forests is being starved", Vilsack said. "The magnitude of the crisis demands that we cannot go another year without a solution to the Forest Service's broken fire budget. There is broad agreement that we need to fix the way we pay for wildfires. We have provided Congress with a straightforward solution to enable us to do the work we need to do and now it is up to Congress to act."

The bipartisan Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, already introduced in the House and Senate, is an important step forward in addressing the funding problems. The proposed legislation, which mirrors a similar proposal in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget, would provide a fiscally responsible mechanism to treat wildfires more like other natural disasters, end "fire transfers" and partially replenish the ability to restore resilient forests and protect against future fire outbreaks. The bill would increase the acres the Forest Service could treat annually by one million acres and increase timber outputs by 300 million board feet annually.

The Restoration Report shows that in 2014 the Forest Service treated more than 4.6 million acres, an area larger than New Jersey and an increase of 9 percent, or 400,000 acres, compared to restoration activities performed in 2011. These treatments reduced the potential impact of future wildfires and produced 2.8 billion board feet of timber volume, enough for 93,000 single-family homes, compared to 2.5 billion board feet in 2011.

Healthy forests and grasslands provide Americans with clean air and water, wood products, energy, recreation opportunities, and habitat for fish and wildlife. Healthy forests are also better able to withstand the stresses of drought, a changing climate and wildfire.

The Report puts a spotlight on key partners that are helping the Forest Service increase the pace, scale and impact of restoration work. It also examines the Forest Service's expansion of the bipartisan Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLR) to high-priority landscapes in 15 states. CFLR has reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfire on 1.45 million acres of forest and generated more than $661 million in local income and helped create or maintain an average of 4,360 jobs per year.

Some other highlights contained in the report include :

  • The agency helped facilitate investment in more than 230 wood-to-energy projects with a combined investment of nearly $1 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees since 2009.
  • Since 2011, the Forest Service has restored 1.2 million acres of insect and disease-infested forests, resulting in 470,000 green tons of biomass.
  • Since 2012, the Forest Service has identified more than 300 priority watersheds and completed restoration work to improve the condition of 53 of those watersheds.

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the U.S. Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.

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Stops included Dubuque Community Schools, Waukee Prairieview School and Cardinal Middle-Senior High School

 

(DES MOINES)  - Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Director of Education Ryan Wise continued visiting Iowa school districts last week and this week to get an update on the first year of Iowa's new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System.  Visits included Dubuque Community Schools on Friday, Nov. 6 by Gov. Branstad, Lt. Gov. Reynolds and Director Wise.  Gov. Branstad and Director Wise finished this round of visits at Waukee Prairieview School and Cardinal Middle-Senior High School yesterday.

Iowa's Teacher Leadership and Compensation System is the centerpiece of Iowa's landmark 2013 education reform package. It is being phased in over three years, with an investment of $150 million annually when fully in place in 2016-17.

The two main goals of the most extensive teacher leadership system in the nation are to utilize the expertise of many of our best teachers to improve instruction and raise achievement, and transform the teaching profession to attract and retain more outstanding teachers.  All school districts in Iowa have applied to start teacher leadership systems in 2016-17.

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Hereditary Disease Foundation's "Celebration of Discovery" Benefit and Symposium Raises $1.2 Million to Fight Huntington's Disease and Other Brain Disorders

Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science Presented

Accolades for Dr. Nancy S. Wexler -- Gene Hunter, Scientist and Humanist

New York, NY (November 10, 2015) -- The Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF), dedicated to finding cures and treatments for Huntington's disease and other devastating brain disorders, held a "Celebration of Discovery" Symposium and Dinner last night at the Metropolitan Club in New York.  The event was attended by approximately 200 internationally renowned scientists, artists and members of the business and civic community.  All are joined in their commitment to eradicating Huntington's disease and other life-shattering disorders, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's Disease ( ALS ). 

The evening was a special tribute to Dr. Nancy S. Wexler, who celebrated her 70th birthday and marked an extraordinary career in science as a gene hunter, scientist and humanist devoted to bringing hope and healing to families affected by Huntington's disease.  Dr. Wexler was serenaded during dinner by Howard McGillin, who is best known for his record-setting performance in the title role of "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway.   

The "Celebration of Discovery" Symposium and Dinner raised $1.2 million for the Hereditary Disease Foundation's $4,000,000 capital campaign to support its cutting edge, scientific research.

Dr. Wexler, who is president of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, said, "My dream is to have a magic pill that we can give to people who are carrying the abnormal Huntington's
gene.  We're not there yet.  There is much still to be done.  Thanks to an extraordinary $1 million
grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation and the generosity of other supporters, we are now hunting for genes that can push Huntington's out of the normal lifespan, moving the age of onset to 95, 100, or older.  It's within our grasp."

The evening began with a Symposium focusing on genes, the brain and recent transformative advances in science.  Participants were Dr. Robert B. Darnell, President, CEO, and Scientific Director of the New York Genome Center and the Heilbrunn Professor at Rockefeller University; Dr. Beverly L. Davidson, the Arthur V. Meigs Chair in Pediatrics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Dr. X. William Yang, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  The moderator was Robert Bazell, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University and former chief science and health correspondent for NBC News.  

The Hereditary Disease Foundation recognizes transformative research with its Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science, created by founding trustee and sea-change architect Frank Gehry. Frank, with his wife Berta, created this award to honor the memory of Frank's daughter Leslie Gehry Brenner who died in 2008 of cancer.

The 2014-2015 Prize was presented to Dr. William Yang for his work using the human Huntington's disease gene to create innovative strategies towards developing new therapies and cures. The 2015-2016 Prize was awarded to Dr. Beverly Davidson for her breakthrough work in developing safe and effective gene silencing strategies - turning "off" the Huntington's disease gene - for the treatment of Huntington's disease. 

The Hereditary Disease Foundation
The Hereditary Disease Foundation is dedicated to finding cures and treatments for Huntington's disease, and other devastating brain disorders that impact millions of people in the United States and worldwide.  Established in 1968, the Hereditary Disease Foundation facilitates collaborative and innovative scientific research to further the understanding of Huntington's disease, a genetic disorder that strikes in early to mid-adulthood, destroying brain cells, and bringing on severe and progressive declines in personality, cognitive ability, and mobility.  It was work organized by the Foundation that led to the discovery of the genetic marker for Huntington's disease in 1983.  The Foundation organized and funded a decade-long international collaboration of over 100 scientists who discovered the gene that causes Huntington's in 1993.  This work played an important role in the development of the Human Genome Project.  As a disease caused by a mistake in a single gene, Huntington's disease is an ideal model for other brain disorders.  Progress toward treatments and cures for Huntington's disease can help in finding ways to treat other illnesses with more complex genetics, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS). 
For more information: http://hdfoundation.org

Dr. Nancy S. Wexler
Dr. Nancy S. Wexler is Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University and President of the Hereditary Disease Foundation.  Dr. Wexler's life has been haunted by Huntington's disease.  She saw her mother and other members of her family die from the catastrophic brain disease.  This haunting spurred her into action at an early age and at a time when women research scientists were not common in the United States.  Her work has taken her from tiny villages in Venezuela, where large numbers of families are impacted by Huntington's disease, to other areas of the globe and back to New York where she and the Hereditary Disease Foundation's scientific team work tirelessly to eliminate Huntington's.  

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State Department holds; Grassley addresses criticism from Senate minority leader

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following statement in reaction to criticism from the Senate minority leader over Grassley's hold on 22 State Department nominees over the State Department's failure to respond thoroughly or at all to numerous inquiries beginning in 2013.

"My hold is on 22 nominees, not 600.  I disclosed the reasons for my holds, as I always do, and in keeping with the disclosure policy on holds that I helped to enact.  My staff has been working with the State Department to try to get the information I requested, including complete answers to inquiries from June 2013.  Ironically, if the State Department had answered my questions then, we probably wouldn't be here today.  The purpose of my questions then and now is the same:  Is the State Department using personnel rules appropriately, is it appropriately policing potential conflicts of interest among special government employees, and are taxpayers well-served by how the State Department operates?  Looking out for the public interest isn't a waste of time, and I'll keep at it regardless of misguided attacks on my motivations or mischaracterizations of my work."

The Senate Executive Calendar with details of Grassley's 22 State Department holds is available here.  The holds are on p. 18.

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Fifth Circuit Temporarily Halts Obama's Deferred Action Plan

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley made the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold an injunction that temporarily stops the Obama administration's implementation of its deferred action plan.

"Thanks to the Fifth Circuit, the injunction on the President's unlawful maneuvering to implement his own policies, without regard for Congress, the law or American workers remains in place.  The Obama administration does not have unfettered authority to execute whatever it wants.  The President simply can't singly rewrite the country's immigration laws.  This is a win for the checks and balances established by the Constitution."

Grassley Seeks Records on Task Force Overseeing $43 Million Gas Station in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is drilling down on the Defense Department task force that led to the construction of an excessively expensive $43 million natural gas filling station in Afghanistan.  The now-defunct Task Force for Stability and Business Operations (TFBSO) cost $800 million in its mission to facilitate economic development in Afghanistan.  The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) faced impeded access to task force documents in reviewing the gas station cost over-run.

"I believe that, given DoD's decision to impede SIGAR's access to Task Force documents, a full review of all TFBSO activities in Afghanistan is necessary," Grassley wrote to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.  "State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development officials said they wouldn't consider continuing TFBSO programs because they were 'liabilities due to safety concerns, lack of sustainability, and other problems.'  This raises serious questions about TFBSO's use of taxpayer dollars."

Grassley asked the Defense Department to give him all records related to task force activities pertaining to Afghanistan, from January 1, 2009, through March 31, 2015; and all records concerning the task force from April 1, 2015, to the date of his request, including all records pertaining to SIGAR's requests for information regarding the task force, and all records discussing SIGAR reports, letters, or statements about the task force.

Grassley plans to seek a Department of Defense inspector general audit of the $800 million task force expenditures and will ask fellow senators to join the request.

Grassley's latest letter to the defense secretary is available here.

Last week, Grassley pressed the Defense Department to cooperate with SIGAR by releasing all documents, names of staff involved and reasons for placing severe restrictions on information behind the construction of the natural gas filling station.

Grassley's letter last week to the defense secretary is available here.  Grassley's comment on the SIGAR report is available here.  The SIGAR report is available here.

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Protecting America's High-Skilled Workers, H-1B reform bill introduced

Grassley, Durbin Push for H-1B and L-1 Visa Reforms

WASHINGTON - Senators Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin, Assistant Democratic Leader, today are introducing bipartisan legislation that would reform the H-1B visa program, consistent with Congress's original intent, by ensuring that qualified American workers are given the first opportunity at high-skilled job opportunities.  The legislation makes reforms to increase enforcement, modify wage requirements and ensure protection for American workers as well as visa holders.  Grassley and Durbin first introduced this legislation in 2007 and have been long-time proponents of H-1B reform.

"The H-1B visa program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialized areas of employment that cannot be filled by Americans.  The abuse of the system is real, and media reports are validating what we have argued against for years, including the fact that Americans are training their replacements," Grassley said.  "There's a sense of urgency here for Americans who are losing their jobs to lesser skilled workers who are coming in at lower wages on a visa program that has gotten away from its original intent.  Reform of the H-1B visa program must be a priority."

"Reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programs is a critical component of fixing our broken immigration system and must be included in comprehensive immigration reform legislation," said Durbin. "For years, foreign outsourcing companies have used loopholes in the laws to displace qualified American workers and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs.  The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act would end these abuses and protect American and foreign workers from exploitation.  I thank Senator Grassley for partnering with me on this important bipartisan legislation."

Grassley and Durbin's efforts have long focused on making qualified American workers the first priority for employers.  The bill, as in previous years, requires all employers who seek to hire H-1B visa holders to first make a good faith effort to recruit American workers.

The bill would also prohibit companies from hiring H-1B employees if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50 percent of their employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.  This provision would crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for short training periods and then send these workers back to their home country to do the work of Americans.

The bill also gives the Department of Labor enhanced authority to review, investigate, and audit employer compliance with program requirements, as well as to penalize fraudulent or abusive conduct.  It requires the production of extensive statistical data about the H-1B and L-1 programs, including wage data, worker education levels, place of employment and gender.

The bill clarifies that working conditions of similarly employed American workers may not be adversely affected by the hiring of the H-1B worker, including H-1B workers who have been placed by another employer at the American worker's worksite.  In addition, it explicitly prohibits the replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders.  These provisions address the types of abuses that have been well-documented in recent press reports.

The Grassley-Durbin reform bill will for the first time prioritize the annual allocation of H-1B visas.  The new system would ensure that the best and brightest students being educated in the United States receive preference for an H-1B visa.  The preference system also gives a leg up to advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valuable skills.

In addition, the bill includes several reforms of the L-1 visa program.  These include establishment of a wage floor for L-1 workers; authority for the Department of Homeland Security to investigate, audit and enforce compliance with L-1 program requirements; assurance that intra-company transfers occur between legitimate branches of a company and don't involve "shell" facilities; and a change to the definition of "specialized knowledge" to ensure that L-1 visas are reserved only for truly key personnel.

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(DES MOINES)  - Gov. Terry Branstad today appointed Janet Phipps to act as the final decision-maker for the Iowa Quality Care Initiative RFP No. MED-16-009, more commonly known as Medicaid modernization.

Under administrative rules that govern appeals, Director of Human Services Charles Palmer was to act as the final decision-maker for any request for review of the proposed decision of the presiding officer in the contested case.  However, Director Palmer testified in the contested case hearing on matters material to the ultimate merits of the appeals.

Under Iowa code, Gov. Branstad has appointed Janet Phipps, who is an attorney and has experience and familiarity with the state procurement rules and regulations, as the substitute final decision-maker.

To read the letter sent by the governor, click here.

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