Happy
Independence
Day
The
Declaration
of
Independence
is
perhaps
the
greatest
expression
of
political
freedom
ever
devised
by
humankind. It
plainly
states
our
liberties
come
from
God,
not
from
the
government.
What
government
giveth,
it
can
taketh
away.
Ratified
thirteen
years
later,
the
Constitution
secures
our
freedoms,
nailing
down
the
principle
that
the
people
run
the
government,
not
the
other
way
around.
Celebrate
on
this
day
the
freedoms
you
have,
which
are
greater
than
any
others
in
the
history
of
the
world.
I
wish
every
Iowan
a
happy
Independence
Day
on
this
241st
anniversary
of
our
nation’s
founding.
Grassley
Direct
I
spoke with
Cindy
Kohlmann
on
KDTH
in
Duqubue
about
the
Senate
health
care
bill,
lowering
the
prices
of
generic
drugs,
the
ongoing
investigation
into
Russian
interference
in
the
U.S.
election,
the
proposal
to
withdraw
from
the
Waters
of
the
U.S.
rule,
the partial reinstatement
of
President
Trump's
temporary
travel
ban,
nursing
home
social
media
exposure
and
free
speech
on
college
campuses.
Q&A:
Health
Care
Reform
Q.
Why
are
changes
needed
to
fix
the
Affordable
Care
Act?
Q.
What
would
happen
if
no
changes
are
made
to
the
ACA?
Quick
Links
The
U.S.
House
of
Representatives
passed
legislation,
which
included
language
from
a
bill
I
introduced,
honoring
Iowan
Sarah
Root.
Senator
Ernst
and
I
introduced
Sarah’s
Law
following
Sarah’s
tragic
death
after
being
struck
by
an
illegal
immigrant
who’d
been
street
racing
while
drunk.
The
bill
that
passed
this
week
would
ensure
that
local
authorities
cooperate
with
federal
law
enforcement
to
take
criminals
off
our
streets
and
keep
our
communities
safe.
I
met
with
Christopher
Wray,
the
president’s
nominee
to
be
director
of
the
FBI.
His
nomination
will
be
processed
in
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee,
which
I
lead.
Because
this
is
the
number
one
law
enforcement
job
in
our
country,
it’s
important
that
we
consider
this
nominee
without
delay.
You
can
see
the
beginning
of
our
meeting
here.
The
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
held
a
hearing
on
a
vital
national
security
tool
that
has
helped
to
prevent
attacks
against
America
and
our
allies.
Section
702
of
a
landmark
national
security
law
allows
the
government
to
collect
the
electronic
communications
of
foreigners
outside
of
the
United
States
to
gather
information on
those
plotting
to
do
us
harm.
We
heard
from
national
security
and
intelligence
officials,
privacy
advocates
and
other
legal
experts
about
the
program’s
role
in
preventing
terrorism
and
recommendations
on
how
to
move
forward.
Congress
will
have
to
reauthorize
the
program
by
the
end
of
this
year.
I
co-authored
the
Physician
Payments
Sunshine
Act
after
helping
to
uncover
significant
payments
from
the
prescription
drug
and
medical
device
industry
to
doctors
that
had
not
been
disclosed.
The
information
is
tracked
through
the
Open
Payments
database,
which
posted
new
data
showing
that
the
industry
gave
payments
to
doctors
of
$8.18
billion
covering
11.96
million
records
for
2016. There’s
no
way
to
know
how
many
questionable
payments
were
never
made
because
someone
didn’t
want
to
disclose
them,
but
if
sunshine
has
deterred
questionable
payments
while
letting
doctors
continue
to
act
for
patient
benefit,
then
it’s
a
success.
The
Environmental
Protection
Agency
and
Army
Corps
of
Engineers
proposed
to
withdraw
from
the
Waters
of
the
U.S.
rule.
This
was
a
bad
regulation
drafted
under
a
bad
process.
Farmers,
land
owners
and
builders
in
Iowa
struggled
to
make
sense
of
the
regulation,
and
the
EPA
over-reached
its
authority
and
ignored
and
manipulated
legitimate
concerns
raised
by
the
public.
Competition
in
the
prescription
drug
market
is
crucial
to
improving
patient
access
to
affordable
medication. That's
why
I
supported
the
Food
and
Drug
Administration’s decision to
publicly
list
off-patent
drugs
and
expedite
applications
for
lower-cost
generics
to
help
foster
greater
drug
competition
for
consumers.
In
Congress,
I'm
also
working
to
improve
access
to
lower-cost
generics.
I've
introduced
two bills
to
end regulatory
abuses
by
branded
drug
makers and pay-offs
to
generic
drug
makers that
delay
market
access
to
less
costly
alternatives.
Post
of
the
Week
|