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Senator Grassley says reserve judgment on Korea talks and trust the president

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s encouraged by what’s being said about progress so far in the talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

President Donald Trump says he plans to sign an accord with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but the subject matter is still unknown. “I think that it would be smart for all of us to reserve judgment until we see the printing of it,” Grassley says.

Whether the pending agreement involves nuclear arms or trade, Grassley says we need to trust our president. “I was kind of surprised at how candid he was,” Grassley says of Trump. “He thinks it’s a good agreement and he thinks it’s going to work out well in the end, but he says, ‘Maybe in six months I will say I’m wrong,’ although he said, ‘I might not admit I’m wrong.'”

The summit in Singapore marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has met with the leader of North Korea. “I’m going to hope for the best and hope it works out,” Grassley says. President Trump made comments during the recent G-7 summit that are perceived as lashing out at key U.S. allies — including Canada, Germany and France — over trade.

Grassley says Trump is doing his best to level the playing field. “He’s shooting for the moon and I think it’s legitimate to shoot for the moon,” Grassley says, “because you see, the countries he’s dealing with have higher tariffs than America does for most of our products that we import.” For example, Grassley says Canada has a 279% tariff on dairy products, while many European nations have trade bans in place on American grains due to GMO practices.

 

Senator Grassley wants hearing on how federal courts handle sexual harassment

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says a new report on how the federal court system handles sexual harassment is “totally unacceptable.”

The report was commissioned after a federal judge retired in December of 2017 following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Grassley says he’d hoped the report, released on Monday, would provide a concrete blueprint for accountability. He says it didn’t.

“The report lacked very serious proposals and, in a sense, just kind of kicked the can down the road,” Grassley says. Grassley says his office is working with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on a path to prevent future harassment and to hold accountable those who are responsible.

“The federal judiciary is the only federal entity without clear guidelines on how to handle harassment complaints,” Grassley says, “and it doesn’t have an independent watchdog to guard against misconduct like congress and the executive branch has.”

Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is calling for a hearing before the panel next week to address the issue of harassment in the federal court system.

Senator Grassley is also weighing in on whether a sitting U.S. president can and should be able to legally pardon himself. Grassley, who’s quick to remind he’s not an attorney, says it’s a “common sense answer” as the special counsel probes the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in 2016.

Grassley says, “If I were president of the United States and some lawyer advised me that I could be above the law and take the law into my own hands and be my own judge, I’d get a new lawyer.”

President Trump issued a tweet on Monday, saying he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself, but adds, “why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”

 

Senator Grassley says arming teachers should be a local decision

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

A teacher tackled a young gunman at an Indiana middle school last week to end a shooting rampage, raising renewed questions about the concept of arming teachers.

During his town hall meetings in Iowa this Memorial Day recess week, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s been hearing from concerned Iowans who want to see school security improved. “I think there’s a lot of thought going into what can be done to make the buildings safer,” Grassley says. “Except for maybe metal detectors, I think it probably involves personnel more than anything else.”

During a town hall meeting in Eagle Grove, Grassley said he’s hoping action can be taken soon on federal funding for improving the safety and security of our school buildings. Grassley says he doesn’t think teachers should be packing pistols, but he adds, it’s not his call to make.

“There’s a real reluctance for members of Congress to make a decision that the Eagle Grove school district ought to arm teachers,” Grassley says. “That’s just like a lot of education issues. I would leave that to the local school district.” In the Indiana incident, the 7th grade science teacher was shot three times, but survived. Grassley says the situation is stirring many emotions as we all seek solutions to the continued violence.

“There’s other people, like the president feels that we ought to be arming teachers but I don’t happen to feel that way,” Grassley says. “I don’t want to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to arming teachers. I just want that to be a local decision.” So far this year, there have been 23 school shootings nationwide in which someone was hurt or killed, an average of more than one per week.

(Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City contributed to this report)

 

Iowa Senators not happy with report of retroactive refinery waivers

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Iowa’s two U.S. Senators are not happy about a new report that says the EPA granted retroactive waivers to refineries to allow them to get around the requirements for blending ethanol in gasoline under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley talked about the issue during a meeting at Northwestern College in Orange City. “We’re guaranteed from the White House that these waivers would be hardship waivers only. But there’s been some news out in the last 24 hours that it’s even worse than we thought it was,” Grassley says. “Evidently the Obama Administration didn’t give some waivers somebody thought they could get from (EPA administrator) Pruitt and so for the years ’13 and ’14 they are going back and giving those waivers.”

Reuters reported the story of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt granting the retroactive waivers. Grassley says this is another case of what he calls “detractors” from keeping Pruitt in the position and says he needs answers on paper about them.

Grassley says if he doesn’t get the answers on the items he requested from the EPA head, “then I think it is time for Pruitt to go.”

Iowa’s other Senator, Joni Ernst, issued a statement on the issue saying “Pruitt needs to understand that his actions to continue to grant waivers, now retroactively, to oil refineries is undermining the Renewable Fuel Standard — a program that Administrator Pruitt told Congress he was committed to upholding.”

Ernst a Republican from Red Oak went on to say that the waivers to oil refineries and the delay in on the year-round use of E-15 is undermining the RFS.

(Mark Buss, KSOU, Sioux Center contributed to this story.)

 

Senator Grassley touts bills passed by Senate Judiciary Committee addressing the opioid crisis

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the Judiciary Committee he chairs passed five bills targeting the opioid crisis late last week and five more bills on the topic are being considered in the Finance Committee.

Grassley says, “The opioid epidemic affects people from every background, rural and urban, everywhere, ruining lives and hurting families and eventually, affecting entire communities.”

State health officials say there were just over 200 opioid-related overdose deaths in Iowa last year. Grassley says those death rates are picking up dramatically in Iowa and nationwide in recent years and Congress needs to act.

“These bills are aimed at different aspects of the problem, transparency for drug companies, manufacturers and insurance companies, inpatient care services, accurate reporting systems and opioid production quotas,” he says.

A new report from the Drug Enforcement Agency predicts overdose deaths from fentanyl this year may top 70,000 nationwide, which would be a new record high. Grassley says fentanyl is prominent on his radar.

“Fentanyl would be covered by the general opioid things that are in the bills I talked about,” Grassley says. “In my sentencing reform bill, we do have massive amounts of mandatory minimum sentencing for anybody dealing with fentanyl.”

One of the bills that passed last week encourages increased participation of authorized collectors in drug take-back programs by awarding grants to states.

From California to the Carolinas to Iowa, Grassley says, “we have seen the devastating results of abusing illegal and prescription opioids, heroin or fentanyl.” Each measure, he says, will “help curb opioid abuse and its tragic consequences.”

 

Senator Grassley calls for compromise in NAFTA negoitiations

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is joining many of his colleagues in signing a letter to the U.S. trade representative, urging the preservation of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA.

It’s been suggested the U.S. pull out of NAFTA with a “take it or leave it” strategy, but Grassley suggests compromise on key issues like demanding Mexican auto factory workers make $16-an- hour.

“They make about $4 an hour now, $16 is quite a jump,” Grassley says. “Anything we can do to get them to pay more, do it, but maybe $16 is outrageous to expect from a country that doesn’t have the income that Americans have.” Grassley says that’s one of two key elements on which the U.S. could allow for some changes in NAFTA.

Grassley says, “The other one was to do away with the arbitration factor by which you settle disputes between countries.” As negotiations on the agreement near an end, the letter urges the Trump administration to work closely with Congress to ensure NAFTA has the Congressional support needed to be enacted into law. Grassley says it’s an important agreement to the nation — and to our state.

“The bottom line of what I said about what it takes to reach an agreement is important because Mexico imports so much Iowa corn, as one example,” Grassley says. “There’s a lot of other ways in which Iowans would be hurt if the United States withdrew from NAFTA.” The first incarnation of NAFTA was signed in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

 

Farm Bill fails in U.S. House, Grassley urges GOP to craft better bill

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

A fight among House Republicans led to defeat of the Farm Bill when the legislation came up for a vote today.

Democrats had criticized the proposed Farm Bill because it includes a new work requirement for food stamp recipients who are in their 50s or the parents of school-aged children, but it was conservative Republicans in the U.S. House who defeated the bill for another reason. They were demanding an immediate vote on an immigration crack-down. Enough of them then cast a protest vote against the Farm Bill crafted by some of their fellow Republicans that the bill fell 15 votes short of passing.

The current Farm Bill expires September 30.

Senator Chuck Grassley is urging his fellow Republicans in the House to come up with “better” Farm Bill. Grassley, in a tweet, said the bill should deny federal farm subsidies to people who are not farmers and have merely invested in farmland.

Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Iowa City, was the first member of Iowa’s delegation in the U.S. House to release a written statement after today’s vote.

“House Republicans today showed they care more about being partisan than passing a farm bill to support Iowa’s farmers and rural communities. In what has historically been done in a bipartisan manner with a rural-urban coalition, this farm bill has devolved into a partisan food fight,” Loebsack said.

Senator Grassley wants EPA chief to follow ethanol guidelines or resign

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Senator Chuck Grassley.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s tired of waiting for EPA director Scott Pruitt to follow through on issues surrounding ethanol and wants him to take action or quit.

The Republican from New Hartford was asked during a conference call with reporters if he thought the EPA would stop giving ethanol waivers to large refineries. “Well they better — or I am going to be calling for Pruitt to resign — because I am done playing around with this,” Grassley says. Grassley and others recently met with President Donald Trump on the ethanol issue and he says the EPA needs to follow through on the support the president is giving the issue.

He says the president made a commitment in January in 2016 in speaking with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association when he said the EPA should ensure that the blend levels of ethanol match the statutory levels set by the RFS. Grassley says the EPA administrator needs to follow through with the commitment.

“So, I’m sick and tired of messing around with this any more,” Grassley says. “Trump was elected with an agenda. Pruitt was not elected and it’s Pruitt’s job to carry out the Trump agenda.” Grassley says continuing to give renewable fuel waivers to refiners will undermine the year-round use of the E-15 gasoline mix.

 

Grassley ‘going to reserve judgment’ on EPA Administrator

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Senator Chuck Grassley.

Senator Chuck Grassley today said he trusts EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to follow through on the president’s promise that a higher blend of ethanol may be sold year round, but Grassley said he’s worried Pruitt may take other actions to undermine what was discussed earlier this week during a White House meeting about ethanol.

“In other words, I’m going to reserve judgment,” Grassley said. “…Other things we talked about that they might be doing that will detract from E15 12 months out of the year.”

Grassley has been critical of the EPA’s decision to grant some oil refineries exemptions to federal ethanol mandates. During an early morning taping at Iowa Public Television of tonight’s “Iowa Press” program, Grassley was asked about Pruitt’s future.

“Have you about had it with Scott Pruitt?” a reporter asked.

Grassley paused for a deep breath before replying.

“On ethanol, yes,” Grassley said. “On everything else he’s done, no, except for the ethics questions and I’m going to wait until we get done with the investigation on the ethics questions.”

Grassley is pleased with Pruitt decisions which have rolled-back Obama-era regulations, including the Waters of the U.S. rule that groups like the Farm Bureau opposed. Pruitt was serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general when President Trump nominated him to serve as EPA administrator. Grassley said he’s been surprised by reports of Pruitt’s spending habits in the agency.

“I would think that a person who came from state government where you don’t have all the atributes of playing with the people’s money like you do in Washington, D.C., I would think he would come in there with a very conservative approach,” Grassley said. “I don’t see it with some of the things he’s done.”

A former EPA aide told congress in April that Pruitt spent $43,000 to turn a closet into a soundproof phone booth in his office. Pruitt also spent $9000 installing office locks that are opened by fingerprints. Pruitt’s accused of pursuing a lavish lifestyle on the taxpayers’ dime, including first class air travel and five-star hotels. President Trump took to Twitter last month to defend Pruitt, saying Pruitt was doing a “fantastic job” as head of the EPA.

Renewable Fuels Association leader happy with president’s E-15 stance

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The leader the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says some good things came out of a White House meeting on ethanol Tuesday,  but says there are still some things that remain unsettled.

IRFA executive director Monte Shaw says the reports he got on the meeting from Iowa’s two U.S. Senators was positive in one area. There was some very good news,” Shaw says, “the president did agree to authorize the sale of E-15 year-round. That was talked about before, that was stated very clearly in the meeting and even (Texas Senator) Ted Cruz tweeted about that part of the meeting accurately. So, that’s something that we can take away from this.” Shaw says there now needs to be action on the E-15 issue.

“We need to see ’em do it, they need to get that process going,” Shaw says. One of the issues that Shaw says was left unresolved is handling the credits given to refineries for blending ethanol with gasoline that are commonly known as RINS (like tins). Shaw says Senator Cruz brought up a plan to let refineries get the credits for ethanol that is exported to count toward the gallons required under the Renewable Fuels Standard.

“It’s awfully hard for me to imagine how a program like that could even function number one — let alone be good for us,” Shaw says. “If you start allowing exported gallons of renewable fuels to count toward the RFS, it’s just gallon-for-gallon demand destruction. Every gallon we export is a gallon they don’t have to blend here in the United States.”

Shaw says the reports he’s gotten indicate things should be moving the right way for ethanol. “From what we’ve been told, everybody in that room from the president all the way down to Ted Cruz was on the same page that the president was going to move forward on E-15 year round sales. That is excellent news,” according to Shaw. “They all agreed — despite Cruz promoting this — that there was not going to be any type of RIN cap or RFS waiver scheme of the type that he was promoting. That is good news,” Shaw says.

He says another issue is the ethanol exemptions that were intended to help small refineries deal with the ethanol blend mandate that were given to large refineries. Shaw says Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and EPA Administrator Scott Pruit are exploring that situation and will report back.

“That was I would say an outstanding discussion that was not finalized and we have to now see what EPA Administrator Pruit and U.S.D.A. Secretary Perdue come back with . They were charged with coming up with a plan that would deal with small refinery exemptions,” Shaw says. He says the outcome could go either way.

“They could come up with a plan that we could support and that’d be great. Or they might come up with a plan that says ‘hey we’re just going to do these export RINS’ — and that would be horrible and we would oppose that. So, we’ll just have to wait and see and the story continues,” Shaw explains.

Iowa is the nation’s leader in renewable fuels production with 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing nearly 4.4 billion gallons annually.

Senator Joni Ernst released this statement on the meeting:

“Today, the President outlined his intention to direct the sale of E15 year-round, a move that will help put Iowa’s corn farmers, ethanol producers, and our rural communities on a promising path forward.

“While I am still assessing the full implications of the President’s notion to attach Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) to exported ethanol, an idea Administrator Pruitt committed to not pursue in a letter last October, I am pleased that the President did not move forward with a RIN cap that would have destroyed demand, hurting both farmers and biofuel producers. Allowing E15 year-round will drive up domestic ethanol production and consumption to help maintain already low RIN prices. Additionally, I am encouraged the administration will be taking a closer look at the “hardship” waivers that have been abused by EPA to undermine the RFS.

“I will continue working with this administration to ensure the commitments made today protect Iowa’s 88,000 farms and the 50,000 jobs tied to the renewable fuels industry.”

Senator Chuck Grassley released this statement on the meeting:

 “President Trump agreed to allow for the sale E15 year-round. That’s good news for farmers and consumer choice at the pump. Allowing higher blends of ethanol to be sold in the summer months fits in well with EPA’s deregulatory agenda. There was also an agreement to not pursue an artificial cap on RIN prices, which would have destroyed demand for biofuels and hurt biofuels workers.

“I told the President and Administrator Pruitt that EPA’s ‘hardship’ waivers for billionaires are hurting biofuels and undermining the RFS. They also undercut the President’s commitment to meet the annual 15 billion gallon volume obligation set by Congress under the RFS. There was discussion about how to reallocate the waived obligations so that demand for biofuels wouldn’t be hurt. While details weren’t decided, I look forward to reviewing a plan being developed by Secretary Perdue and Administrator Pruitt. Any fix can’t hurt domestic biofuels production.”