Grassley Direct
On my weekly "Capitol Hill Report," I spoke with Mike Peterson of KMA in Shenandoah and Seth Boyes of the Dickinson County News about ethanol, the Army Corps of Engineers and e-cigarettes.
Q&A: U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement
Q. What does the new trade pact with Japan mean for Iowa?
Q. What else is on the trade horizon yet this year?
Quick Links
This week, Speaker Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into President Trump based on a phone call with the President of Ukraine even before seeing the call transcript or hearing from the alleged whistleblower or the director of national intelligence. I’ve read the transcript in its entirety. It shows that there was no quid pro quo. The Ukrainian president admitted problems with corruption in the country and agreed that the issue at hand warranted looking into further. The firing of a prosecutor looking into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son following pressure from Mr. Biden himself is worthy of investigation. That a president who ran on an anti-corruption platform would look into this matter is unsurprising and is in both the U.S. and Ukrainian national interests. Democrats should instead focus on the issues Americans care about, such as lowering prescription drug prices, rebuilding our infrastructure and passing the USMCA.
Along with Senator Leahy from Vermont, I introduced legislation to tackle fraud, abuse and national security threats in the EB-5 Investor Visa Program. The bipartisan EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act addresses concerns that the Department of Homeland Security has long expressed about ongoing abuse and exploitation of vulnerabilities in the program. This bill builds upon our previous efforts to restore integrity and security in EB-5, and it includes the reforms sought by DHS dating back to the Obama administration. Given what we learned about the vulnerabilities in this program, it should not be allowed to continue without addressing these critical issues.
Universities have long been centers of political correctness. But campus administrations increasingly seem to be indulging students who, when faced with uncomfortable ideas, complain of feeling “harmed” or “unsafe.” This is reaching its breaking point and making it hard for professors to teach. As part of my oversight work in the Senate, I’m seeking answers from some of the nation’s top universities about incidents that have taken place on their campuses. Students who can think critically for themselves are best equipped to tackle the most difficult challenges we face in our democracy. College professors must be free to teach in order for this to happen. Read more in my op-ed in the Wall Street Journal here.
I also introduced the bipartisan Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2019 with Senator Durbin of Illinois, which would end the unjust practice of judges increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has been acquitted by a jury. If any American is acquitted of charges by a jury of their peers, then some sentencing judge shouldn’t be able to find them guilty anyway and add to their punishment. A bedrock principle of our criminal justice system is that defendants are innocent until proven guilty. The use of acquitted conduct in sentencing punishes people for what they haven’t been convicted of. That’s not acceptable and it’s not American. With this bill we will finally prohibit under federal law what many already find patently unconstitutional.
Post of the Week
 Glad to have 2 Iowa farmers at senate ag hearing today on livestock & poultry. Trent Thiele pork producer from Elma + Ron Kardel turkey producer from Walcott. I asked them about trade & foreign animal disease.
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