Grassley
Direct
I
spoke
with
TJ
Dunphy
of
KSIB
Radio
in
Creston
and
Eric
VanSickle
of
Waverly
Newspapers
about
farm
bill
priorities,
sanctions
against
North
Korea,
Chinese
import
restrictions,
Attorney
General
Jeff
Sessions
and
NAFTA
renegotiations.
Q&A:
Farm
Exports
Q.
Why
do
you
work
so
hard
to
expand
market
access
for
U.S.
farm
exports?
Q.
Do
you
support
renegotiating
NAFTA?
Quick
Links
I
haven't
missed
a
year
of
the Iowa
State
Fair since
1974,
and
one
of the
first
things I
do
is
go
see
the
famous butter
cow.
On
Thursday,
I
went
through
the
livestock
barns,
the 4-H
building and
the
William
C.
Knapp Varied
Industries building
and
spoke
with
Cynthia
Fodor
and
Steve
Karlin with
KCCI.
Friday,
I
talked
to
Iowans
at
the Iowa
Farm
Bureau park
and
with
Sabrina
Ahmed
of WOI and
stopped
by
the
John
Stoddard
Cancer
Center
booth.
I’m asking
the
Trump
Administration
to
add
the
topic
of
individuals
with
disabilities
to
discussions
on
promoting
apprenticeships. Enhanced
support
for
apprenticeships
can
put
more
Americans
on
a
path
toward upward
mobility.
The
Senate approved
a
bipartisan
bill
I
introduced
to
crack
down
on
waste,
fraud
and
abuse
in
federal
agency
travel
and
purchase
card spending. This
bill
builds
on
my
successfully
enacted
Government
Charge
Card
Abuse
Prevention
Act
of
2012
by
adding
an
additional
layer
of
government-wide
oversight to prevent
misuse
and
identify
potential
cost
savings.
The
Centers
for
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
fixed
an
extension
of
a
Medicare program critical
to
small,
often
rural
hospitals.
The agency
was
imposing
delays
on
the
extension
that
Congress
didn’t
intend,
and
I led
an
effort
to
get
the
delays
corrected. The
fix
is great
news
for
the
hospitals in
Carroll,
Grinnell,
Newton
and
Spirit
Lake
that
depend
on
this
critical
program
to
keep
their
doors
open
for
their
patients.
A
new study
found
that
according
to
sunshine data,
about
one
in
12
doctors
received
a
payment
involving
an
opioid
during
the
29-month
study,
totaling
$46.2
million. This
is
exactly
the
kind
of
research I
hoped
to
see
in
co-authoring
the
sunshine
provisions. Disclosure
allows
for
the
analysis
of
trends,
like
the
fact
that
opioid
makers
were
reaching
a
lot
of
doctors
as
the
opioid
crisis
was
getting
worse.
This
is
information
the public
should
know.
Post
of
the
Week
|