Grassley
Direct
I
spoke
with
Josh
Blake
of
KNEI
Radio
in
Waukon
and
Seth
Boyes
of
the
Dickinson
County
News
about
my
Public
Safety
Officers’
Benefits
bill,
which
was
signed
into
law,
the
introduction
of
anti-human
trafficking
and
synthetic
drug
legislation,
the
Senate
health
care
replacement
plan,
withdrawal
from
the
Paris
climate
accord
and
former
FBI
Director
Comey’s
testimony
before
Congress.
Q&A:
Farm
Markets
and
Farmers
Markets
Q.
How
do
you
approach
public
policy
when
it
comes
to
production
agriculture?
Q.
What's
your
take
on
the
growing
popularity
of
farmers
markets?
Quick
Links
A
whistleblower provided
data
to
my
staff
showing
that
as
of
March
2017,
hundreds of
Iowa
veterans
were
waiting
between
one
and
two
years
for
an
appointment.
The
Department of
Veterans
Affairs previously provided
misleading
information
about
wait
times.
The
reported
lengthy wait
times
are
unacceptable.
I will
continue
to
pursue
accurate
wait
time
information
about
VA
appointments
in
Iowa.
Following
my
inquiry, Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
Secretary
Tom
Price
committed
to
working
on
extending
a
Medicare
payment
designation
program
that
is
critical
to
Human
trafficking
is
a
serious
human
rights
violation
that
needs
our
continued
attention,
but
victims
in
need
of
help
are
often
hidden
in
plain
sight
because
of
the
challenges
of
identifying
them.
I
introduced
bipartisan
legislation
to
promote
training
to
help
better
identify
victims,
expand
services
for
survivors
and
streamline
the
federal
government’s
response.
The
exploitation
of
human
beings
should
never
be
tolerated
in
our
society.
When
it
comes
to
holding
government
accountable,
there’s
plenty
of
work
to
go
around.
Each
elected
official
in
Congress
has
the
constitutional
authority
to
conduct
oversight
of
the
executive
branch
on
behalf
of
the
people
he
or
she
This
week
marks
the
seventh
anniversary
of
the
tragic
death
of
Indianola
teen
David
Rozga,
who
died
while
trying
a
synthetic
form
of
marijuana
for
the
first
time.
These
dangerous
synthetic
drugs
are
often
difficult
to
regulate
because
they
can
be
slightly
modified
in
a
lab
to
skirt
federal
laws
designed
to
outlaw
them.
It’s
created
a
deadly
game
of
“whack-a-mole" as
law
enforcement
struggles
to
keep
pace
under
the
current
drug
scheduling
regime.
I
introduced
bipartisan
legislation
to
allow
dangerous
drugs
that
are
substantially
similar
to
other
controlled
substances
to
be
quickly
outlawed and
help
law
enforcement
get
ahead
of
the
poison
peddlers.
I wrote
to
the
U.S.
Government
Accountability
Office
requesting
an
update
of
its
2013
report
on
farm
program
eligibility. I
have
young
farmers
saying
they
cannot
get
started
in
farming
because
those
who
game
the
system receive
huge
amounts
of
subsidies
and
bid
the
price
of
land
up
too
high.
Removing
non-farmers
from
farm
programs
is
a
no-brainer.
Post
of
the
Week
|