Grassley
Direct
I
spoke
with
AJ
Taylor
of
KIOW
radio
in
Forest
City
and
Chris
Vrba
of
the
Pocahontas
Record-Democrat
about
immigration
policy,
Farm
Bill
developments,
conservation
expansion,
Russian
interference
in
the
2016
presidential
election
and
tax
reform.
Q&A:
American
Red
Cross
Q.
Why
do
you
keep
close
tabs
on
the
American
Red
Cross?
Q.
Are
you
concerned
the
Red
Cross
has
lost
credibility
with
the
public?
Quick
Links
Though
President
Obama's
action
to
shield
certain
unauthorized
immigrants
from
deportation,
commonly
known
as
the
Deferred
Action
for
Childhood
Arrivals
program or
"DACA,"
may
have
been well-intentioned,
the
program
was
created
by
executive
edict
rather
than
by
Congress
as
the
Constitution
requires.
Because
of
the
numerous
legitimate
legal
challenges
to
the
program,
President
Trump
has
asked
Congress
to
sort
it
out.
Next
week,
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee,
which
I
lead,
will hold
a
hearing on
this
issue
to
begin
discussions
in
the
Senate.
Any
solution
we
come
up
with
will
need
to
be
a
compromise
that
addresses
the
status
of
those
who
have
been
unlawfully
brought
to
this
country
and
upholds
the
rule
of
law.
Senator
Joni
Ernst
and
I
sent
a
letter to
Majority
Leader
Mitch
McConnell
calling
for
the
Senate
to
remain
in
session
during
the
scheduled
one-week October
state
work
period
to
continue
working
on
critical
issues
facing
the
American
people.
Much
of
this
fall
will
be
consumed
by
deliberations
over
the
National
Defense
Authorization
Act,
disaster
relief,
the
debt
ceiling,
appropriations
and
reauthorizing
programs
that
are
set
to
expire
at
the
end
of
the
month.
I led the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee’s
tenth
nomination
hearing
of
the
year to
consider
four
highly
qualified
federal
judicial
nominees
and
the
nominee
to
lead
the
Justice
Department’s
civil
rights
division.
It’s
important
that
the
federal
government
is
properly
staffed
to
best
serve
the
American
people. I’ll
continue
working
with
my colleagues
on
both
sides
of
the
aisle to
prevent
any
unnecessary
delays
in
this
process.
With
Senator
Joni
Ernst,
I
urged
the
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy
to
include
an
evaluation
of
drug
take
back
programs
in
the
final
report
of
the
President’s
Commission
on
Combatting
Opioid
Abuse,
correcting
a
shortcoming
in
the
interim
report. Many
people
who
are
prescribed
opioids
are
unsure
of
how
to
dispose
of
them,
worsening
the
problem
of
the
diversion
of
controlled
substances
to
those
other
than
the
prescription
holders. The
drug
take
back programs
are
an
effective
part
of
an
all-of-the-above
strategy
to
approaching
the
opioid
epidemic,
and
an
evaluation
must
be
included
in
the
final
report.
Post
of
the
Week
|