Grassley
Direct
In the
latest
“Grassley
Direct,”
I
discuss
Iowa
Secretary
of
Agriculture
Bill
Northey’s
nomination
for
a
top
post
at
USDA,
my
#99CountyMeetings, my
bipartisan Elder
Abuse
Prevention
and
Protection
Act
of
2017,
which
was
signed
into
law
by
President
Trump,
and
the
Senate-passed
budget.
Q&A:
National
Adoption
Month
Q.
Why
is
the
month
of
November
celebrated
as
National
Adoption
Month?
Q.
How
do
you
work
to
raise
awareness
and
improve
policies
to
promote
adoption?
Quick
Links
The
House
Ways
and
Means
Committee
released
a
draft tax
reform
proposal.
The proposal
is
a
critical
step
forward
in
passing
middle
class
tax
relief
and
pro-growth
tax
reform.
The
tax
code
hasn’t
been
overhauled
in
a
generation.
I’m
working
to
make
sure
that
the
final
bill
includes
relief
for
small
businesses,
addresses
the
unfair
estate
tax
and
includes
reforms
that
make
U.S.
industry
and
workers
more
competitive
in
the
global
economy.
No
one
should
feel
uncomfortable
or
unsafe
at
work
because
of
a
colleague’s
behavior.
Sexual harassment
prevention
training
in
the
workplace
can
help
cultivate
a
safe,
healthy
and
productive
work
environment.
My
offices
require such
training
for
staff,
but
it’s
not
mandatory
for
all Senate employees. I wrote
the
leaders
of
the
Senate
Rules
Committee to
encourage
them
to
require
mandatory
training.
The
Judiciary
Committee,
which
I
chair,
has
been
working hard
to
vet
and
process
the
President's
judicial
nominees.
This
week,
the
Senate
approved four appellate
court
nominees
who
are
some
of
the
most
qualified
we’ve
seen.
Among
those
confirmed
this
week
is
Iowa
native
and
U.N.I.
alumna
Joan
Larsen,
who
was
approved
to
serve
on
the
6th
U.S.
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals.
The
others
were
Amy
Barrett
of
Indiana,
Allison
Eid
of
Colorado
and
Stephanos
Bibas
of
Pennsylvania.
Senator
Klobuchar
of
Minnesota
and
I
introduced
bipartisan
legislation
to
reduce
single
use
drug
waste.
A recent
report indicated
that
Medicare
and
private
insurers
waste
nearly
$3
billion
a
year
on
cancer
drugs
that
are
distributed
in
vials
that
hold
too
much
medicine
for
most
patients. It’s
no
secret
that
wasteful
health
care
spending
is
a
significant
contributor
to
the
rising
cost
of
health
care
in
the
United
States. We
should
always
be
encouraging
a
culture
in
government
that
respects
taxpayer
dollars
and
expects
fiscal
responsibility
and
accountability.
If
foreign
entities
are
actively
working
to
influence
U.S.
policy
decisions
or
our
democratic
process,
we
ought
to
know
about
it.
Congress
passed
a
law
in
1935
requiring
those
lobbying
on
behalf
of
foreign
principals
to
disclose
their
work. My
oversight
work
has
uncovered
lackluster
enforcement
of
the
law.
I
introduced
the
Disclosing
Foreign
Influence
Act
to
shine
a
light
on
foreign
influencers
and
improve
compliance,
enforcement
and
oversight
of
the
law.
Post
of
the
Week
|