Grassley Direct
On my weekly "Capitol Hill Report," I spoke with Mike Peterson of KMA in Shenandoah and Dale Wegner of the Sac Sun in Sac City about Iran sanctions and disaster aid.
Q&A: Price Transparency in Health Care
Q. Does secrecy contribute to health care costs?
Q. What reforms are underway to improve price transparency in U.S. health care?
Quick Links
I joined Senator Perdue to reintroduce the Modern Employment Reform, Improvement and Transformation (MERIT) Act. This bill would modernize the civil service system by expediting the dismissal of underperforming employees to keep pace with changing workforce needs. The American people deserve high-performing and effective federal employees. Unfortunately, that’s not always what they get. Although most federal employees work hard to do their jobs well, some government employees chronically display poor performance or misconduct, and get away with it. The MERIT Act would fix this problem by holding poor-performing bureaucrats accountable for their actions. I’m happy to support this long-overdue legislation.
June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. I gave a speech on the Senate floor to discuss the critical need for more research on this disease. It’s important to recognize the impact Alzheimer’s has on families in Iowa and across the country. This disease robs Americans of their memories and impacts their ability to speak, pay attention and exercise judgement. The best way for Congress to help with Alzheimer's disease is to ensure adequate research funding to find treatments. As Congress considers appropriations for next year, we should continue to fund research and work toward curing this disease.
Senator Durbin and I led a bipartisan group of our colleagues in sending a letter to the EPA urging them to update an outdated environmental analysis on ethanol in order to improve foreign sales opportunities. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide use the updated model, including the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, Ford and General Motors. During the past five years, ethanol has been the fastest growing agricultural export: as more nations adopt policies for lower-emission vehicle fuels, domestically produced ethanol can provide an immediate solution for their goals. We need to address this unnecessary obstacle to international trade.
I recently gave a speech on the Senate floor to highlight the importance of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In a self-governed society, the people ought to know what their government is up to. That's why I've been a long-time supporter of transparency laws like FOIA. It helps provide access to information in the face of an opaque and obstinate government. Unfortunately, a recent Supreme Court ruling and new regulations at EPA and the Department of Interior are undermining access. That's why I’m working on legislation to address these developments and promote access to government records. Americans deserve an accountable government and transparency leads to accountability.
Post of the Week
WH signing ceremony for exec order on health care transparency. State Sen Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Ottumwa & Andy Butler from Dubuque also attended.
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