EAST PEORIA, IL (03/11/2014)(readMedia)-- Shawn M Bainter, of East Moline, IL, graduated from Illinois Central College, East Peoria, with a/an Associate in Science Degree. More than 800 students met the graduation requirements for the Fall 2013 semester.

Started in 1967, ICC is a comprehensive public community college that provides transfer programs for students who intend to pursue a bachelor's degree at a four-year college or university as well as career programs for students who plan to gain skills and knowledge to enter a career.

WEST DES MOINES - Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Mark Jacobs today filed his petitions at the Iowa Secretary of State's Office to appear on the ballot in the June 3 primary, after exceeding requirements.

"Since announcing my candidacy in November 2013, I have been humbled by the support that my family and I have received from Iowans across the state. Today marks another important step in my campaign. I look forward to speaking with and hearing from Iowans about solutions to the top issues facing our country, including what it will take to get the economy going in the right direction again and reining in our debt and deficits," said Mark Jacobs.

As of today, Mark easily exceeded the Iowa Secretary of State's ballot access requirements and collected signatures from all 99 counties, 4,715 signatures in total.

Jacobs is a proven business leader who will focus on creating jobs and opportunities for all Iowans. His five priorities for aiding job growth include : emphasizing community colleges and vocational schools to close the skills gap, expanding domestic energy production, tackling job killing regulations, implementing a competitive tax policy, and reforming healthcare.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today praised the Department of Education's response to a call from a bipartisan group of senators to reach out to foster youth about available college aid and other resources that could help them succeed.

"Foster youth often don't know about the resources available to them," Grassley said.  "As a result, the kids don't take advantage of an educational program or other opportunity that might make a difference in their lives.  The Department of Education is taking steps to reach out to foster kids and inform them about existing resources that might help them get to college.  I'm glad to see this effort."

Last month, Grassley and his fellow senators wrote to the secretaries of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to seek a coordinated informative effort.  The senators noted that only three percent of foster youth graduate from college.  Nearly 400,000 children are in the foster system due to abuse or neglect; every year more than 23,000 of those children age out of the system with no place to call home.

Grassley is founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth and a senior member and former chairman and former ranking member of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over foster care programs.  He has a long record of improving policies to help foster youth and promote adoption, including authoring the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act. Foster youth often face multiple school placements once in the child welfare system.   Research has demonstrated that instability and multiple placements have a negative effect on academic achievement and are associated with high rates of children and youth dropping out of school.  The 2008 law requires child welfare and educational agencies to work together to ensure educational stability for foster youth.

The senators' letter to the agencies is available here.  The Department of Education's response is available here.

Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Hearing on "Open Government and Freedom of Information:

Reinvigorating the Freedom of Information Act for the Digital Age"

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I always enjoy this hearing.  It provides us an opportunity to focus on how the government handles the Freedom of Information Act.  As I've said before, it's been my experience that every administration, whether Republican or Democratic, has challenges in providing the degree of transparency desired by so many.

Unfortunately, the current administration, as administrations before, continues to fail to provide the transparency that the President promised.  This is troubling, as we all were told this would be the most transparent administration ever.  We need to do better than the status quo.

I expect we'll hear about some of the changes in technology that are taking place to make the Freedom of Information Act process better.  This is important and improvements are needed.  But we also must remain focused on improving the way the government thinks about transparency and Freedom of Information.  All of the changes to technology will be futile if there's not a change in attitude.

On this point, at last year's hearing I questioned what the Justice Department was doing to improve the way people think about transparency.   I hope to hear today what's been done to change the so-called "culture of obfuscation among Freedom of Information officials."

The Justice Department and its Office of Information Policy has a unique and special role with regard to the Freedom of Information Act.  The Office of Information Policy can have a profound impact on Freedom of Information Act policy.  It can tackle head-on the government-wide "culture of obfuscation" problems.  I'm concerned, though, that rather than lead in a positive way, the Justice Department has acted in a way that's contrary to the President's transparency promise.

I'm frustrated with the legal argument the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission made in a recent Freedom of Information case.  In Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Federal Election Commission, the Justice Department made an argument that, in the view of many, undermined the Freedom of Information Act. 

Fortunately, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, rejected the Obama Administration's argument.  The D.C. Circuit said the government's position would create a "Catch-22" situation, leaving requesters in limbo for months or years.  That result isn't what Congress or the law envisions.  I'm glad the court got this one right, but it's a shame that it even had to consider the question.

What message does the Justice Department's argument send to other agencies?  I fear this "do as I say, not as I do" approach emboldens agencies to craft legal maneuvers that undermine Freedom of Information compliance.  That's what the Federal Election Commission did and the Justice Department was right there to help them in court.

Given the Justice Department's leadership role with respect to the Freedom of Information Act, this is disappointing, if not downright alarming.  If Justice makes these kinds of arguments, why should anyone be shocked about lack of transparency claims against the government?  As a Senator, I've had my own challenges in obtaining information from this administration.  If it's this difficult for a senator, I can only imagine how much more difficult and frustrating it is for a private citizen.

So, this problem is something we need to address.  I know we'll hear from the witnesses today about proposals to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.  These may in fact be needed, but we must first ensure current law is followed, rather than undermined.

I'll note that recently the House of Representatives unanimously passed bipartisan Freedom of Information legislation.  That's a real accomplishment these days.  I understand, Mr. Chairman, our staffs are reviewing this legislation and hearing from those in the transparency community.  Overall, the reception seems to be positive, but there are some questions that have been raised regarding, for example, the technology used for handling requests.  We'll continue to examine this issue and others, but here's a bill that we should take serious and examine closely.

There's a lot of room for improvement and I look forward to asking our witnesses about some of these concerns I've raised today.