Flooding in Eastern Iowa

The governor’s office is working with counties and cities on flood preparation, mitigation and response in Eastern Iowa. Federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Weather Service are involved. As I have before, I'm ready to help the state and communities with whatever they need from the federal government, whether it's disaster assistance or making sure farmers have their federal crop insurance needs fulfilled. Please click here for helpful links.

Grassley Direct

I spoke with Nikki Thunder of KCHE Radio and Michael Hohenbrink of the Calmar Courier about the steps being taken after last weekend's events in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, flooding in northeastern Iowa, mental health care, individuals who received deportation orders but were mistakenly granted citizenship and the future of energy growth in Iowa.

Q&A: Ag Mergers

Q. Why did you call a congressional hearing to examine ag mergers? 

Q. What did you learn from the witness testimony? 

Quick Links

A recent Homeland Security Inspector General report found that at least 858 individuals were granted citizenship after receiving deportation orders--many from countries with ties to terrorism. I led a group of Judiciary Committee members in writing a letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Loretta Lynch seeking answers on how this happened and what steps are being taken to prevent this fraud and failure in the future.

I also asked Secretary Johnson to explain why some Department of Homeland Security employees are being encouraged to work overtime to process as many applications for citizenship as possible “due to the election year.” Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and I raised concerns about potential political motivations and that the rush would likely lead to cutting corners during the background check process, as has been the case in the past.

Two weeks ago, a colleague and I called on Senate leadership to either reform the deeply flawed EB-5 Foreign Investor Visa program or let it expire. Back in 2010 an interagency working group recommended discontinuing parts of the program, but its recommendations never made it to Congress. Congressman Chaffetz and I sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeking any records relating to this working group. I also took to the Senate floor to press my case to reform or end the program.

I previously warned of the danger of allowing agencies to improperly use the Office of Senate Security to keep information secret even when it is unclassified. That is exactly what is happening. I spoke on the Senate floor to bring attention to the agencies' hiding documents related to the Iran ransom payment and about why we need to take our oversight responsibility more seriously.

My regional director for the Council Bluffs area will be holding open office hours across southeastern Iowa and will be available to take questions, comments and concerns about federal issues from Iowans.

Post of the Week

Brad Gentz from Mason City received the Humanitarian Award as an extraordinary letter carrier from Iowa

A photo posted by @senatorchuckgrassley on September 21, 2016

Read about why Brad won the Humanitarian Award here

 

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