Senator Chuck Grassley will attend the Memorial Day Parade and speak at the Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday in Aplington. The parade begins at 10 a.m. at the Amvets Post 102 Building in the 900 block of Patriot Street in Aplington.  The ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. in Pleasant View Cemetery.

Senator Grassley is an original co-sponsor of the Veterans Access to Care Act introduced Thursday by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The legislation would help to improve veterans' medical facilities by allowing facilities with a need for additional health care professionals to apply to be designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area.  Once designated, these facilities have access to National Health Service Corps, which provides service-obligated scholarships and loan forgiveness to health professional students who pledge to practice for at least two years in a Health Professional Shortage Area.  The bill also would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a process for veterans' facilities to qualify as Health Professional Shortage Areas.

Below is a statement from Senator Grassley about Memorial Day, thanking those who have served and remembering those who have given their lives for freedom.

Memorial Day - Reflecting on the True Price of Freedom by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Memorial Day really is a community-oriented holiday.  The first observances of what we now call Memorial Day were spontaneous expressions of gratitude and remembrance on the part of Civil War veterans for their fallen comrades, organized by veterans groups in local communities.  Only once it became an established tradition did state legislatures and Congress recognize the day as an official holiday.  The tradition remains for local organizations to recognize Memorial Day with moving and heartfelt observances.

Memorial Day is a time for families and neighbors to gather in remembrance and in tribute to those individuals from their community who gave their lives for our country.  This allows us to remember them not as strangers, but as sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.

When you first arrive at a national cemetery, you are struck by the sea of identical white headstones spreading across green fields.  When you draw closer, you see the name of an individual and their home state, with a date often indicating a young life taken too soon.  That's when it hits home that these are not anonymous soldiers, but individual Americans who left behind a hole in the lives of their loved ones.

I've made it my practice to honor each Iowa soldier that has died in Iraq and Afghanistan with a personal tribute in The Congressional Record.  In the process of doing that, I have learned a little bit about each of these brave Iowans.  I've learned about their hobbies, their sense of humor, and the families they left behind.  I've also noticed that time after time, the family members say the same thing; that their loved one was proud to serve their country, knew the risks, and accepted them.  You can't help but be deeply touched by that kind of selflessness.

I'm proud that we have so many such people in Iowa.  I think it's in close-knit communities like we have in Iowa where the value of service to our fellow Americans is most ingrained.  Neighbors help neighbors and people really care about each other's lives.  When a soldier from a tight-knit community goes off to war, he knows the people he's fighting for by name.  And, if he doesn't come back, his loss is felt very personally in his home town.  We have a solemn duty to honor those who have fallen in service to our country, not in the abstract, but as family members, friends, and neighbors.  Remembering the individual lives of our fallen heroes is deeply humbling and profoundly American.

It's also important to remember what they were fighting for.  Our nation is unique in human history in that it was founded not on the basis of a common ethnic identity or loyalty to a monarch, but on certain enduring principles.  Those principles are best articulated in the simple but eloquent words of the Declaration of Independence - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Our patriot forefathers concluded that these principles were worth fighting for and took up arms.  The odds were not great that groups of local militias and a hastily cobbled together national army would defeat the largest and best training military at the time.  Nevertheless, our forefathers risked everything because they believed so deeply in the fundamental truths just mentioned.

Our founding principles are as true today as they have always been and generations of Americans have given their lives to protect that unique and precious gift of liberty.  It's impossible to describe in words the debt of gratitude we owe these fallen heroes, but Memorial Day is a reminder for each of us to reflect on the true price of our freedom.  God bless all those who defend our freedom.

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bill:

Bill No.: HB 494

An Act Concerning: Education

Places a one-year moratorium on the establishment of virtual charter schools in all school districts except Chicago, and requires the State Charter School Commission to submit a report on virtual schooling by March 1, 2014.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

WASHINGTON - In a weekly video address, Senator Chuck Grassley discussed amendments he filed to the comprehensive farm and nutrition bill being debated in the U.S. Senate.  Nearly 80 percent of the farm and nutrition bill is funding for programs such as the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP or food stamps).  The remaining 20 percent of the funding goes to programs that enhance agriculture and rural communities.

Here is the text of Grassley's address:

The United States Senate debated a comprehensive farm and nutrition bill this week.

The minor percentage of this legislation that is geared toward agriculture and rural America is a way to give farmers the kind of certainty they deserve.

In fact, people may not realize that nearly 80 percent of the funding in the farm bill is geared toward nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(or food stamps); the Emergency Food Assistance Program; and other food assistance programs for seniors and children.

The rest of the bill - the 20 percent for agriculture - includes changes to federal farm programs to enable a marketplace where American agriculture can thrive and both feed and fuel the world.

I offered a few amendments during the Senate debate focused on:

1)      holding accountable the bureaucracy at the United States Department of Agriculture.

2)      holding the line on fairness in farm program payments.

3)      putting the expertise of the Department of Agriculture to work with the Justice Department's formal role in scrutinizing the state of competition in the agriculture marketplace.

My first amendment is a direct response to the Environmental Protection Agency's release of personal information about more than 80,000 livestock and poultry owners nationwide to three activist groups.  The EPA released a lot of personal information even when the definition of a Consolidated Animal Feeding Operation wasn't met, including cases where people owned a single pig or 12 horses, for example.  My amendment would allow EPA to collect and disclose information in the aggregate, for transparency, but it would protect individuals' personal information from release by the federal government.

My second amendment would make sure the farm program payment reform I've worked so hard to get included in the farm bill - to keep the farm program focused on small and mid-size farms - isn't unraveled for peanut farmers.

My third amendment would create a special counsel position at the United States Department of Agriculture to analyze mergers in the food and agriculture sectors.  This person would work closely with the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to fight anti-competitive forces in the agricultural marketplace, forces that make it difficult for independent ag producers to compete and thrive.

The farm bill is expected to pass the Senate with bipartisan support.

Remembers Former St. Isaac Jogues Classmate and Congressional Medal of Honor Awardee Lance Corporal Lester Weber, USMC

HINSDALE - In honor of Memorial Day Weekend, Governor Pat Quinn today joined students at his grammar school alma mater, St. Isaac Jogues in Hinsdale, to remember our servicemembers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. Ten years ago this week, then-Lt. Governor Quinn dedicated a plaque at the school to honor a former classmate, Congressional Medal of Honor Awardee Lance Corporal Lester Weber of the United States Marine Corps.

"Memorial Day is a time for everyone to remember and honor our servicemembers who put their lives on the line each day to protect our freedom," Governor Quinn said. "Lance Corporal Lester William Weber, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, is a true American hero. I encourage everyone in Illinois to take a few moments this weekend to reflect upon our servicemembers, and give thanks for their service and sacrifice."

Lester William Weber, who attended St. Isaac Jogues Grammar School with Governor Quinn, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in September of 1966 and in the U.S. Marines Corps in January of 1967. He served a tour in Vietnam as an ammunition carrier and squad leader with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division as a Private First Class, and was promoted to Lance Corporal in 1967.

In January 1969, Lance Corporal Weber extended his tour and assumed duty as a squad leader with the 2nd Platoon, Company M, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. On February 23, 1969, he led a search and clear operation in Vietnam, where his platoon was attacked by a heavily-armed North Vietnamese Army battalion. Weber was mortally wounded while attempting to save the lives of two of his comrades from enemy fire, after having overwhelmed at least eleven enemy troops.

Lance Corporal Weber received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest honor, in 1969, for his "conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and unwavering devotion to duty." His decorations also include the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with one Silver Star and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

In 2003, then-Lt. Governor Quinn dedicated a plaque to Lance Corporal Weber for sacrificing his life in Vietnam. The plaque is affixed to a granite boulder outside of St. Isaac Jogues Grammar School and reads:

"Semper Fidelis. Lance Cpl. Lester Weber, USMC. 1948-1969. Congressional Medal of Honor Winner.  Lance Cpl. Lester Weber, USMC, a St. Isaac Jogues parishioner and graduate was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously in 1969 for his "conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and unwavering devotion to duty." On February 23, 1969 in South Vietnam, Lance Cpl. Weber saved his platoon before sustaining mortal injuries. Dedicated this 25th day of May, 2003."

Governor Quinn is a longtime champion of Illinois' Veterans and servicemembers. As State Treasurer, he launched Operation Homefront to inform National Guard members and reservists of their rights under the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act. As Lt. Governor, his Illinois Military Family Relief Act to aid the spouses and children of those called to active duty became a model for other states. As Governor, he has visited Illinois troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Germany, and is committed to the goal of getting 100,000 Veterans hired in Illinois by 2020.

For more information on how to support Illinois' Veterans and servicemembers and their families, please visit OperationHomefront.org.