Grassley
Direct
I spoke
with AJ
Taylor
of
KIOW
Radio
in
Forest
City
and
Tom
Cullen
of
the
Storm
Lake
Times
about
lowering
prescription
drug
costs,
federal
and
state
water
quality
regulations,
bipartisan
legislation
to
increase
access
to
and
lower
the
cost
of
hearing
aids
and
the
firing
of
FBI
Director
James
Comey.
Q&A:
Foster
Youth
Q.What
prompted
your
leadership
on
foster
care
issues
in
Congress?
Q.
What
other
reforms
are
you
proposing
to
help
at-risk
youth?
Quick
Link
I urged
the
IRS
and
Treasury
Department
to
clarify
rules
on
refinancing
options
for
student
debt.
Empowering
nonprofits
operating
in
the
student
loan
space
is
one
tool
we
should
unleash
to
better
deal
with
the
student
debt
problem.
Governor
Branstad was
unanimously
approved
by
the
Senate
Foreign
Relations
Committee
to
serve
as
the
next
U.S.
ambassador
to
China. I
look
forward
to
voting
to
confirm
him
to
serve
the
nation
in
this
new
role.
At
a
Judiciary
Committee
hearing earlier
this
month,
now-former
FBI
Direct
Comey
committed
the
Bureau
to
providing
follow-up
briefings
for
several
matters
that
were
discussed.
I requested the
Deputy
Attorney
General
Rod
Rosenstein
and
Acting
FBI
Director
Andrew
McCabe to
provide
such
a
briefing
in
a
timely
manner. I
also
called
on
them
to
brief
the
full
committee
on
the
investigation
into
Russian
interference
in
the
U.S.
election.
The
bipartisan
request
is
intended
to
ensure
that
all
Judiciary
Committee
senators,
both
Republicans
and
Democrats,
have
a
better
understanding
of
what
went
on
and
where
the
investigation
stands.
Fellow
senators
and
I called on
the
Trump
Administration
to
prioritize
funding
for
the
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy. Since
its
inception,
the
program
has
achieved
statistically
significant
reductions
in
youth
drug
use.
We
must
also
maintain
strong
law
enforcement
efforts
to
address
the
trafficking
of
dangerous
substances.
A bipartisan
bill
I
wrote
with
Senator
Elizabeth
Warren that
would
make
certain
types
of
hearing
aids
available
over
the
counter
passed
through
committee
this
week.
Consumers
are
interested
in
new
hearing
aid
products
to
improve
their
quality
of
life
at
an
affordable
price.
The
committee
was
right
to
advance
this
bill,
and
I
look
forward
to
seeing
it
continue
to
move
forward.
In
recent
years,
I’ve
raised
many
concerns
about
flaws
in
the
EB-5
investor
visa
program,
which
was
designed
to
create
jobs
in
rural
and
economically
depressed
urban
areas
through
foreign
investments
in
exchange
for
visas.
Unfortunately,
the
program
has
been
riddled
with
fraud,
abuse
and
national
security
vulnerabilities.I
called
on
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security
to
expedite
proposed
regulations
to
address
these
flaws
and
return
integrity
to
the
program.
The
department
must
also clarify
that
no
foreign
investors
will
receive
preferential
treatment
and
applications
will
be
processed
in
the
order
in
which
they
are
received.
Post
of
the
Week
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