Grassley
Direct
On
my
weekly
"Capitol
Hill
Report,"
I
spoke
with Mike
Peterson
of
KMA
radio
in
Shenandoah
and
Terri
Queck
Matzi
of
Successful
Farming about funding
the
government,
immigration
policy,
ongoing
investigations,
rural
infrastructure and
the
Renewable
Fuel
Standard.
Q&A:
Rooting
Out
Fraud
from
A
to
Z
Q.
What
drives
your
commitment
to
congressional
oversight?
Q.
What
prompted
you
to
start
drilling
into
allegations
of
Medicaid
fraud
linked
to
pediatric
dental
services?
Quick
Links
I
discussed
the
Renewable
Fuel
Standard
(RFS)
on
Fox
Business
Network.
The
RFS
is
good
for
the
environment,
good
for
agriculture,
good
for
national
defense
and
good
for
high-paying
jobs
in
rural
America.
I
sought unanimous
consent
from
my
Senate
colleagues
to
confirm Secretary
Bill
Northey to
serve
at
the
U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture.
Without
objection,
Northey
would
have
been
confirmed
to
his
post. Unfortunately,
Senator
Ted
Cruz
objected
for
unrelated
policy
reasons.
Senator
Joni
Ernst,
Congressman
Rod
Blum
and
I
pressed
the
Army
Corps
of
Engineers
for
answers
in
our
continued
efforts
to
secure
previously
authorized
funding
for
the
Cedar
Rapids
flood
mitigation
project.
We
sent
a
letter
to
the
Army
Corps
of
Engineers
requesting
information
on
how it
makes project
funding
decisions.
Although
Cedar
Rapids
has
been
able
to rebuild
after significant flooding
damage,
we
stressed that assistance
from
the
Corps
remains
vital
to
completing
the
project
and
protecting
against
another
catastrophic
flood.
Attorney
General Jeff Sessions
sent
a
memorandum
to
heads
of
the
Justice
Department
instructing
them
to
not
communicate
with congressional
members
or
staffs without
advance
coordination
and
consultation
with
the
Office
of
Legislative
Affairs.
While
I recognize the
need
for
consistency
and
timeliness
of
communications
with
Congress,
I
asked
him
to update
the
instructions
that
did
not
appear
to
comply
with
laws
protecting whistleblowers.
Any federal
employees
who
want to
shine
a
light
on
waste,
fraud
and
abuse
in
government
should
be
sufficiently
protected
from
retaliation.
Post
of
the
Week
|