Chuck Grassley

Chuck Grassley
United States Senator from Iowa
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1981 Serving with Tom Harkin
Preceded by	John Culver
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Max Baucus
Succeeded by	Max Baucus
Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging
In office January 7, 1997 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	William Cohen
Succeeded by	John B. Breaux
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001
Preceded by	John B. Breaux
Succeeded by	John B. Breaux
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 3rd district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	H.R. Gross
Succeeded by	T. Cooper Evans
Member of the Iowa House of Representatives
In office 1959–1974
Personal details
Born	September 17, 1933 (1933-09-17) (age 78) New Hartford, Iowa
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Barbara Grassley
Children	Lee Grassley Wendy Grassley Robin Grassley Michele Grassley Jay Grassley
Residence	New Hartford, Iowa
Alma mater	University of Northern Iowa (B.A., M.A.)
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Baptist - BGC
Website	Senator Chuck Grassley

Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa (1981–present). A member of Republican Party, he previously served in the served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1981) and the Iowa state legislature (1959–1974). He was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from January to June 2001 and from January 2003 to December 2006. He is currently the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

Early life, education and career

Grassley was born in New Hartford, Iowa, the son of Ruth (née Corwin) and Louis Arthur Grassley,^[1] and graduated from the town high school. At Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), he earned a B.A. in 1955 and an M.A. in 1956. He also completed some doctoral studies in political science at the University of Iowa. Also during the 1950s, Grassley farmed and worked in factories, first as a sheet metal shearer and then as an assembly line worker.

Iowa House of Representatives

Grassley represented parts of Butler County in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959 until 1974, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served three terms.

U.S. Senate

Sen. Grassley along with Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), right, address the media after a meeting at the White House with President Bill Clinton. Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R-FL) in background.

Committee assigments

• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
• Committee on the Judiciary (Ranking Minority Member)
  • As Ranking Minority Member of the full committee, Sen. Grassley may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees of which he is not already a voting member.
• Committee on the Budget
• Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Co-Chairman)
• Joint Committee on Taxation

As a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee Grassley has spearheaded many probes into the misuse and accountability of federal money.

In July 2007, a Grassley-commissioned report was released claiming that more than US$1 billion in farm subsidies were sent to deceased individuals. Grassley said: "It's unconscionable that the Department of Agriculture would think that a dead person was actively engaged in the business of farming."^[2]

Since 1976, Grassley has repeatedly introduced measures that increase the level of double taxation on American citizens living abroad, including retroactive tax hikes. Grassley was eventually able to attach an amendment to a piece of legislation that went into effect in 2006, which increased taxes on Americans abroad by targeting housing and living incentives paid by foreign employers and held them accountable for federal taxes, even though they did not currently reside in the United States. Critics of the amendment felt that the move hurt Americans competing for jobs abroad by putting an unnecessary tax burden on foreign employers. Others felt that the move was only to offset the revenue deficit caused by domestic tax cuts of the Bush Administration.^[3][4][5]

In March 2009, amid the scandal involving various AIG executives receiving large salary bonuses from the taxpayer-funded bailout of the corporate giant, Grassley sparked controversy by suggesting that those AIG employees receiving large bonuses should follow the so-called 'Japanese example', resign immediately or commit suicide. After much criticism he has not backed off of those comments, dismissing them as rhetoric.^[6][7][8]

At an August 12, 2009, meeting in Iowa, Senator Grassley supported the claims by health care reform opponents that end-of-life counseling provisions in the House health care bill, H.R. 3200, amounted to government sponsored euthanasia. In response to an audience question about the provision, Grassley said people were right to fear that the government would "pull the plug on grandma."^{[9][10][11][12]} Grassley had previously supported covering end-of-life counseling, having voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which stated: "The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary's need for pain and symptom management, including the individual's need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning."

Political positions

In 2005, Charles Grassley received a 7 percent rating on the Republicans for Environmental Protection's (REP) environmental scorecard. He voted in a manner inconsistent with what the REP considers pro-environment on 14 of 15 issues considered environmentally critical by the REP. He voted with REP on an amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 proposed by Senator Jeff Bingaman to require at least 10% of electricity sold by utilities to originate from renewable resources. Issues in which Senator Grassley voted anti-environment are all other amendments to the Energy Policy Act proposed in 2005, the issue of authorizing drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and fuel economy standards for vehicles. In 2006, Grassley received a 0 percent rating from the REP^[13] and a 14 percent rating from the LCV.^[14] According to these organizations, he voted pro-environment on the issue of energy and weatherization assistance, and voted anti-environment on drilling, environmental funding, peer review, renewable resources, and the Gulf of Mexico Security Act of 2006.

Senator Grassley received a 10 percent rating on the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) scorecard for his pro-environment votes on the issues of renewable energy and farm conservation programs.^[14] These pro-environment votes, however, were balanced by his anti-environment votes on the energy conference report, global warming, natural gas facilities, undermining fuel economy, increasing fuel economy, and various other issues.

Grassley has been described in newswires as a "bulldog supporter" of biofuels such as ethanol.^[15] Grassley has opposed conservative Senators like Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) for wanting to bring an end to ethanol subsidies.^[16]

According to the Disabled American Veterans, Senator Grassley has the third-worst voting record in the entire US Congress (both House and Senate combined) on veterans issues, earning a 40 rating.^[17] However, Senator Grassley was given the right-leaning American Legion's distinguished public service award for his support of a "strong national defense, service members, veterans and the American flag", primarily due to his support for a flag protection amendment.^[18]

In May 2009, Grassley cosponsored a resolution to amend the US Constitution to prohibit flag-burning, stating the flag is "... the symbol our men and women in uniform have fought for over 200 years. [sic]"^[19]

Grassley was among 20 co-sponsors of a 1993 Senate bill that would have mandated health insurance for Americans. In 2009 and 2010, however, when President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party proposed a health reform bill featuring mandated health insurance, Grassley vocally opposed the health insurance mandate, saying that it was a deal breaker.^[20][21]

Grassley voted in favor of end-of-life counseling as part of the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill. Six years later, in 2009 and 2010, he changed positions and began referring to end-of-life-counseling as “death panels,” and strongly opposed the Democratic proposals for health care reform in the United States that would include this counseling. In 2009, he told an Iowa town hall meeting, “In the House bill, there is counseling for end of life. You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life…”^[22][23]

Senator Grassley has a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee,^[24] 84 percent rating from the American Conservative Union,^[25] 100 percent rating from the Family Research Council,^[26] and 100 percent rating from Eagle Forum.^[27] Grassley scored a 20 percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization for the 110th Congress.^[28]

Grassley has campaigned to increase protection and provide support for "Whistleblowers". He has supported a number of FBI whistle blowers, including Coleen Rowley, Michael German, and Jane Turner. Grassley received a lifetime achievement award on May 17, 2007 from the National Whistleblower Center. A September 2009 poll shows Grassley with a popularity rating in Iowa of 50% approving of his job, and 40% disapproving.^[29]

Controversies

Religious organizations

On November 5, 2007, Grassley announced an investigation into the tax-exempt status of six ministries under the leadership of Benny Hinn, Paula White, Eddie L. Long, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.^[30] In letters to each ministry, Grassley asked for the ministries to divulge specific financial information to the committee to determine whether or not funds collected by each organization were inappropriately utilized by ministry heads.^[31] By the December 6, 2007 deadline, only three of the ministries had shown compliance with the Finance Committee's request. On March 11, 2008, Grassley and Finance Chairman Max Baucus sent follow-up letters to Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar and Eddie Long, explaining that the Senate reserved the right to investigate the finances of their organizations under federal tax laws.^[32]

Responses from these Ministers included Constitutional arguments about Congressional power to oversee such matters. They claim that only the IRS has the authority to request such information, and should the IRS request it or pursue an investigation, the ministries involved would gladly comply.

Medical research

Grassley also began an investigation about unreported payments to physicians by pharmaceutical companies. The New York Times reported that Dr. Joseph Biederman of Harvard University had failed to report over a million dollars of income that he had received from pharmaceutical companies.^[33] Weeks later, Business Week reported that Grassley alleged that Alan Schatzberg, chair of psychiatry at Stanford University, had underreported his investments in Corcept Therapeutics, a company he founded.^[34] Dr. Schatzberg had reported only $100,000 investments in Corcept, but Grassley stated that his investments actually totalled over $6 million. Dr. Schaztberg later stepped down from his grant which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).^[35] Similarly, Dr. Charles Nemeroff resigned as chair of the psychiatry department at Emory University after failing to report a third of the $2.8 million in consulting fees he received from GlaxoSmithKline. At the time he received these fees, Dr. Nemeroff had been principal investigator of a $3.9 million NIH grant evaluating five medications for depression manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.^[36]

Political campaigns

Grassley was elected to his Senate seat in 1980, defeating the Democratic incumbent, John Culver. He was reelected in 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010.

2010

Main article: United States Senate election in Iowa, 2010

Grassley was being challenged by Democrat Roxanne Conlin, a former U.S. Attorney, and Libertarian John Heiderscheit, an attorney.

During the Democratic primary campaign, Bob Krause, a former state legislator, Army veteran and transportation official, said that Grassley's more than half-century in public office is too long. "As a good farmer, Sen. Grassley must recognize that 51 years, or 58 years at the end of his term, is a long time to go without rotating crops," Krause told about 50 supporters in Des Moines.^[37] Krause cited Grassley's support in 1999 for legislation that allowed banks and insurance companies to begin offering other investment products. "Please remember that Farmer Grassley was one that opened the barn door and let the cow out at AIG," Krause said.^[37]

Grassley was unopposed in the Republican primary, although some conservatives said he has drifted "too far to the left".^[38] Among those is conservative activist Bill Salier, who said "Grassley was the dominant force and had an enormous amount of loyalty. That has so eroded out from underneath him" during an interview on WHO-AM radio.^[39]

He won with 64.5% of the vote, Roxanne Conlin getting 33.2% of the vote.

Fundraising

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the industries that have been the largest contributors to Grassley during his political career are health professionals ($1 million in contributions), insurance industry ($997,674), lawyers/law firms ($625,543) and pharmaceuticals/health products ($538,680). His largest corporate donors have been Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, Amgen biotech company and Wells Fargo bank.^[40]

Electoral history

United States Senate election in Iowa, 2010

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 63.4%

Roxanne Conlin (D) 32.8%

John Heiderscheit (Lib.) 2.2%

United States Senate election in Iowa, 2004

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 70.1%

Arthur Small (D) 27.9%

Christy Welty (Lib.) 1%

Daryl Northrop (Green) 0.8%

Edwin Fruit (Socialist Workers) 0.1%

United States Senate election in Iowa, 1998

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 68.4%

David Osterberg (D) 30.5%

Susan Marcus (Natural Law) 0.8%

Margaret Trowe (Socialist Workers) 0.3%

United States Senate election in Iowa, 1992

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 69.6%

Jean Lloyd-Jones (D) 27.2%

Stuart Zimmerman (Natural Law) 1.3%

Sue Atkinson (I) 0.5%

Mel Boring (I) 0.4%

Rosanne Freeburg (I) 0.4%

Carl Eric Olsen (Grassroots) 0.3%

Richard O'Dell Hughes (I) 0.2%

Cleve Andrew Pulley (Socialist Workers) 0.1%

United States Senate election in Iowa, 1986

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 66%

John P. Roehrick (D) 34%

United States Senate election in Iowa, 1980

Chuck Grassley (R) 53.5%

John Culver (D) (inc.) 45.5%

1978 Iowa 3rd District United States Congressional Election

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 74.8%

John Knudson (D) 25.2%

1976 Iowa 3rd District United States Congressional Election

Chuck Grassley (R) (inc.) 56%

Stephen Rapp 44%

1974 Iowa 3rd District United States Congressional Election

Chuck Grassley (R) 50.8%

Stephen Rapp (D) 49.2%

Personal life

Grassley married Barbara Ann Speicher in September 1954; the couple have five children: Lee, Wendy, Robin, Michele, and Jay. Grassley is a member of The Family, the Christian political organization that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast.^[41]

Awards

In 2009, Grassley received the "Health Policy Hero" award from the National Research Center for Women & Families^[42] for his 2004 oversight of legislative reforms and accountability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^[43] Grassley was also named the hardest working member of Congress by The Hill newspaper in June 2010, tied with Max Baucus.^[44]

References

1. ^ 1
2. ^ "Dead farmers got subsidies". The Seattle Times. 2007-07-24. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003803149_watch24.html. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
3. ^ Bradsher, Keith (May 30, 2006). "Americans Living Abroad Get a Nasty Tax Surprise". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/business/30tax.html. Retrieved April 30, 2010. 
4. ^ Americans abroad face higher U.S. tax bills - International Herald Tribune
5. ^ ACA frame linker
6. ^ Follow the 'Japanese example'
7. ^ Grassley dismisses suicide talk as rhetoric
8. ^ A.I.G. Must Take Its Medicine
9. ^ "Grassley Endorses "Death Panel" Rumor: "You Have Every Right To Fear"". Huffingtonpost.com. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/12/grassley-endorses-death-p_n_257677.html. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
10. ^ Hancock, Jason. "Grassley: Government shouldn’t ‘decide when to pull the plug on grandma’ " Iowa Independent". Iowaindependent.com. http://iowaindependent.com/18456/grassley-government-shouldnt-decide-when-to-pull-the-plug-on-grandma. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
11. ^ Hancock, Jason (2008-08-25). "Grassley repeats euthanasia claim " Iowa Independent". Iowaindependent.com. http://iowaindependent.com/18485/grassley-repeats-euthanasia-claim. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
12. ^ "msnbc.com Video Player". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/32396026#32396026. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
13. ^ Republicans for Environmental Protection 2006 Scorecard
14. ^ ^{a b} League of Conservation Voters
15. ^ Senate tax bill extends ethanol credit, tariff Reuters 10 December 2010
16. ^ Grassley's ethanol challenge The Washington Post 24 November 2010
17. ^ "Project Vote Smart - Disabled American Veterans Rating". Votesmart.org. http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=3483. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
18. ^ The American Legion - March 26, 2009 (2009-03-26). "Grassley dedicated to protecting the flag | The American Legion | Veterans Serving Veterans". Legion.org. http://www.legion.org/flag/822/grassley-dedicated-protecting-flag. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
19. ^ Hancock, Jason (2008-08-25). "Grassley cosponsors flag-burning amendment " Iowa Independent". Iowaindependent.com. http://iowaindependent.com/14889/grassley-cosponsors-flag-burning-amendment. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
20. ^ Des Moines Register, Harkin Grassley stand pat on health reform, Feb 26 2010, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100226/NEWS09/2260353/1056/Harkin-Grassley-stand-pat-on-health-reform
21. ^ Iowa Independent, Grassleys opposition to individual insurance mandate comes under fire, Oct 8 2009, http://iowaindependent.com/20702/grassleys-opposition-to-insurance-mandates-comes-under-fire
22. ^ CBS News, Grassley warns of government pulling plug on grandma, August 12, 2009, http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/12/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5237320.shtml
23. ^ Time Magazine, Grassley warns of government pulling plug on grandma, Aug 12 2009, http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/08/13/oh-those-death-panels/
24. ^ "Federal Legislation - Legislative Action Center". Capwiz.com. http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/scorecard.xc?chamber=S&state=US&session=110&x=12&y=11. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
25. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
26. ^ "FRC Action". FRC Action. http://www.frcaction.org/downloads/EF06J02.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
27. ^ "Take Action - Eagle Forum Scoreboard". Capwiz.com. http://capwiz.com/eagleforum/scorecard.xc?chamber=S&state=US&session=1102&x=8&y=5. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
28. ^ Human Rights Campaign, Sen Grassley HRC Score Card, http://www.hrc.org/laws_and_elections/your_elected_officials.asp?state=IA&x=7&y=6&view=myofficials&zip=
29. ^ "SurveyUSA News Poll #15840". Surveyusa.com. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=31d66a90-6f6c-41ea-94a8-7f57b01990df. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
30. ^ "Read Grassley's Letters", npr.org, December 04, 2007. Retrieved on December 10, 2007.
31. ^ http://www.kcm.org/about/financial kcm.org :: ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/06/cbsnews_investigates/main3462147.shtml "Televangelists Living Like Kings?", CBS News, November 6, 2007. Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
32. ^ "Grassley, Baucus Urge Four Ministries to Cooperate", Planned Giving Design Center, March 12, 2008. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
33. ^ "Researchers Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay" The New York Times, June 8, 2008.
34. ^ "Drug Makers and College Labs: Too Cozy?" Business Week, June 26, 2008.
35. ^ "Stanford Researcher, Accused of Conflicts, Steps Down as NIH Principal Investigator" The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 1, 2008.
36. ^ "Doctor Accused in Congress' Probe" The Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2008.
37. ^ ^{a b} Thomas Beaumont (March 29, 2009). "Democrat says Grassley has been in Senate too long". KCCI. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090329/NEWS09/903290336/1056. 
38. ^ Hancock, Jason (2008-08-25). "Salier: Grassley could be primaried " Iowa Independent". Iowaindependent.com. http://iowaindependent.com/13888/salier-grassley-could-be-primaried. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
39. ^ Hancock, Jason (2008-08-25). "Salier renews threat of Grassley primary " Iowa Independent". Iowaindependent.com. http://iowaindependent.com/18348/salier-renews-threat-of-grassley-primary. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
40. ^ Center for Responsive Politics, accessed Feb 26 2010, http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00001758&type=I
41. ^ "News | Sex and power inside "the C Street House"". Salon.com. 2009-07-21. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/c_street/print.html. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
42. ^ "National Research Center :: Previous Foremothers Awards". Center4research.org. http://www.center4research.org/news-events/previous-foremother-awards/. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
43. ^ Grassley recognized for work to increase accountability in health care system WASHINGTON 05-08-2009
44. ^ Victoria, Lauren (2010-06-09). "The 25 hardest working lawmakers". TheHill.com. http://thehill.com/capital-living/102101-the-25-hardest-working-members-of-congress. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 

External links

• United States Senator Chuck Grassley official U.S. Senate site
• Grassley For Senate 2010 official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Earnest Goes to Washington, Eve Fairbanks, The New Republic, September 10, 2007

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by H.R. Gross	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 3rd congressional district 1975–1981	Succeeded by T. Cooper Evans
United States Senate
Preceded by John Culver	United States Senator (Class 3) from Iowa 1981–present Served alongside: Roger Jepsen, Tom Harkin	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by William Cohen R-Maine	Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee 1997–2001	Succeeded by John Breaux D-Louisiana
Preceded by Max Baucus D-Montana	Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee 2003–2007	Succeeded by Max Baucus D-Montana
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Carl Levin D-Michigan	United States Senators by seniority 8th	Succeeded by Jeff Bingaman D-New Mexico
Party political offices
Preceded by David M. Stanley	Republican Party nominee for United States Senator from Iowa (Class 3) 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010	Succeeded by Current

Persondata
Name	Grassley, Chuck
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 17, 1933
Place of birth	New Hartford, Iowa
Date of death
Place of death