Northwest Iowa — Iowa US Senator Chuck Grassley was in northwest Iowa on Wednesday and met with people in several locations.
Grassley started his day at Diamond Vogel Paint in Orange City. He was also at Weld North Education (formerly AOP/Glynlyon) in Rock Rapids, the CFE mill in Ocheyedan, the Community Services Center in Sheldon, and finished his day in Spencer. Grassley staff told us there were 12 stops this week on Grassley’s schedule.
We asked Grassley what the top issues have been that he’s heard from Iowans about on his visit this time. One of the big ones has been his trip to the Mexican border. He says the Congressional delegation went there because the media was not allowed to publicize the conditions there. He says if the Biden administration had listened to the Border Patrol, they wouldn’t be having the issues that they are. He says the open border is causing national security, humanitarian, and drug issues. He says more Border Patrol officers are needed, and the “fence” or wall has been working, but we need more of it.
Grassley tells us what other issues have been on the minds of Iowans.
(as said) “From farmers… the inability some days not to get a livestock market or if you do, taking a penalty for being a residual supplier because there’s not enough competition because four companies have the major part of it; the rationale for spending another one and nine-tenths trillion of which probably only 10% of it was related the pandemic and doing that on a party-line vote, which obviously you know, how I voted; and let’s see… we’ve had questions on health insurance; almost every factory you go to we can’t hire help and so why is the federal government paying people more unemployment not to work than work; the federalization of all election laws; after 240 years… doing away with the state election laws. Another one we hear a lot about is a big bill that deals with a lot of labor issues, but the one thing it does that’ll affect Iowans… it does away with Iowa’s and 26 other states’ right-to-work laws.”
We asked the Senator if he had any solutions to the issues.
(as said) “I can tell you I’m not for federalization of state election laws. That wasn’t intended by the Constitution writers. I can tell you that I don’t want to do away with Iowa’s right-to-work law. I can tell you that I want to get farmers a market for their livestock and that’s my own bill and I want to cut down on the price of prescription drugs with a bipartisan bill that I’m writing and have written already with Senator Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon.”
Other issues that Grassley heard about on Wednesday included how can agricultural producers get the labor they need legally, the risks to peoples’ lives during a polar vortex when too much attention is paid to environmental issues, and nursing home regulations that prevent people from seeing and being an advocate for their loved ones during a pandemic when they can’t help themselves.
Grassley says Congress’s Easter break gave him the opportunity to meet with people. He says normally he holds public meetings, but with the pandemic, he has switched to going where he is invited. He says it helps him know what’s happening in his state and gives people who work in these facilities the opportunity to meet with Grassley.
Photo caption: Grassley talks with Weld North/AOP’s Vice President of Operations, Tami Murray at Weld North’s Rock Rapids facility
