Chuck Grassley of Iowa - United States Senator

When Chuck Grassley cast his 10,000th vote in the U.S. Senate, Iowa's senior senator joined only 28 other senators in history to achieve that milestone.  He also maintains the longest consecutive voting streak among those serving today in the U.S. Senate.  The statistics help illustrate Grassley's work ethic. His dedication has earned the trust of Iowa voters.  Throughout his five terms in the U.S. Senate, this farmer-lawmaker has developed a reputation for fiscal responsibility, government accountability, and constituent services.

Time and again Iowans have entrusted Chuck Grassley to voice the concerns they share around their kitchen tables at the policymaking tables in the nation's capital.  Grassley uses his study of public policy and good standing on Capitol Hill as an honest broker to shape policy decisions that will improve the quality of life and the potential for prosperity to benefit Iowa families and communities for generations to come.

As Iowa's hired hand in Washington, Grassley immerses himself in the nitty-gritty work of rigorous government oversight.   Grassley is a leader when it comes to shedding light on the federal bureaucracy and bringing transparency to the people's business.
In fact, Grassley's whistleblower laws have become the federal government's #1 anti-fraud tool.  Thanks to his ongoing legislative victories to protect whistleblowers, taxpayers have gotten back more than $22 billion that would otherwise have been lost to fraud .

Grassley uses legislative and oversight tools to raise the bar of accountability on those who do business on the taxpayers' tab, from weeding out fraudulent schemes that bilk billions from the Medicare program; to exhuming federal farm payments to deceased farmers; exposing exorbitant payment mismanagement at the Pentagon; and, most recently beefing up enforcement and oversight of the unprecedented taxpayer-backed bailouts.

Grassley's pursuit of accountability has crisscrossed virtually every federal agency, including calling attention to the FDA's approval of foreign-made medical devices to refereeing turf wars between federal agencies that compromise U.S. border security.  The Iowa senator leaves no stone unturned to protect tax dollars, from cross-examining the tax-advantaged practices of non-profits and shutting down offshore tax shelters exploited by corporate elites.

When a financial meltdown on Wall Street rocked consumer confidence and created uncertainty on Main Street, Grassley understood that hard-working families in Iowa worried about losing their jobs, homes, retirement savings and health insurance.  Grassley works to do what is right by the people who sent him to Washington by holding at least one meeting in each of Iowa's 99 counties every year.  Grassley does whatever it takes to keep in touch, whether the contact is face-to-face or on Facebook, he embraces Internet tools and town meetings to stay connected with Iowans.

A lifelong family farmer, Grassley understands the highs and lows that the economy and Mother Nature can bring.  The future U.S. Senator's frugality and tight-fisted grip of the public purse took shape when he witnessed his parents make ends meet on a farm in New Hartford.  As a young father of five children, he worked three jobs to provide for his family.  As a freshman U.S. Senator in the 1980s, Grassley stood up for family farmers struggling to survive the credit crisis threatening to sink their way of life.  When historic floods in 1993 and 2008 devastated Iowa communities, Grassley worked to make sure the federal government stood by Iowans. When the federal government tagged hundreds of billions of tax dollars to stabilize the U.S. economy, Grassley steered bipartisan legislation through Congress to bring better transparency and accountability to the process so taxpayers aren't left hanging on the hook for generations to come.

Grassley's key committee assignments in the U.S. Senate keep Iowa's interests well represented on Capitol Hill. From winning more equitable Medicare reimbursements to growing Iowa's renewable energy industry and obtaining federal help for natural disasters, Grassley's expertise and leadership positions will become even more valuable to Iowa taxpayers, farmers, senior citizens, veterans and small business owners in the years ahead.  Just consider Iowa's growing wind energy industry.  In 1992, Grassley won the first-ever federal tax incentive that helped launch a new era of domestic wind energy production.  Today, wind energy manufacturers employ 2,300 Iowans.

From the Senate Finance Committee, Grassley uses his leadership position to promote tax relief; develop renewable energy; increase college, retirement and personal savings; expand health insurance coverage; foster adoptions; investigate drug safety issues; build bipartisan consensus to address looming shortfalls in the public health and pension systems; and promote international trade.  As the only working family farmer who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Grassley is an outspoken advocate for independent producers, from exposing absurd regulatory proposals to curbing excessive farm subsidies to mega-producers and investing in environmental stewardship.  A senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley champions anti-trust enforcement, legal immigration and efforts to open the federal judiciary up to allow cameras in the courtroom.  As committed to fiscal fitness as physical fitness, Grassley opposes borrow-and-spend policies that saddle our children and grandchildren with debt.  From his seat on the Senate Budget Committee, this deficit hawk looks out for taxpayers in the Hawkeye State.

Grassley's time-tested blend of pragmatism and integrity gives this Iowa senator a license to simply tell it like it is.  He brings a refreshing, no-nonsense style that displaces Washington nonsense with Midwestern substance and good governance.  Grassley's creed of ethics and accountability give Iowans the reassurance they look for in times of uncertainty.