Senator Charles Grassley addresses county residents during his town hall meeting mid-day Monday.
United States Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) visited Mount Ayr mid-day Monday as part of his annual 99 county tour of the state.
A small crowd of around 25 turned out to hear the senator’s update on Washington D.C. happenings and answer questions.
Grassley lamented the fact that the senate only is in session a few days each week under the leadership of Democrat Chuck Schumer.
“We need to get more done,” said Grassley. “I wish we would work harder.”
Grassley talked about the difficulties in getting the 5-year Farm Bill to final passage, citing several problems certain senator’s have with the legislation.
He also addressed the high costs of prescription drugs and the difficulties in getting prices down due to PBM management companies that control the flow of drugs between the pharmacy and the patient. Those companies set prices and often are driving small pharmacies out of business, especially in rural communities.
Fielding a question from James Saville on the lack of camaraderie and bi-partisanship in the current legislative process, Grassley insisted he hasn’t changed his approach to governing and is often rated as one of the most bi-partisan senators in the chamber.
“Politics are not the only reason we don’t have a perfect society,” said Grassley.
Again responding to an audience question, there was a lengthy discussion on veteran’s care and what can be done to better serve veterans in need of help.
Grassley said spending on VA programs has increased but more needs to be done. He put part of the blame on unions which require patients to go to large hospitals instead of local, rural facilities.
“I don’t know what is enough to spend to stop vet suicides,” he said.
The massive amount of aid being sent to Ukraine ($60 billion in one bill) to help fund their war against Russia was also brought up by the audience and why he supported the measure.
Grassley said that Russia needs to be checked in their aggression and also pointed out that a good chunk of that $60 billion is spent in the United States in the form of make munitions and upgrading forces serving overseas. He pointed out that $400 million of that amount was spent in Iowa on artillery shells.
Grassley also responded to a question about the southern border by saying he “welcomes people coming to the country legally,” but the Biden administration is not enforcing the law an we now have an open border that is causing trouble all across the nation.
Grassley said he served over 25 years with President Biden when he was in the senate and found him to be open to various ideas and approaches. But now, Grassley said Biden has allowed the left wing to hijack his presidency and that is causing a lot of problems.
“If he was a president like he was a senator, we wouldn’t have all this partisanship,” said Grassley.
When asked about Biden’s debate performance last week and calls for the president to not run for reelection, Grassley said it was tough to watch. He thought Biden was well prepared with information but didn’t have the memory to get that across.
He said the democrat rules make it hard for anyone else to force him not to run. He said it was a decision that the president had to make.
Retirement age in politics can be a little awkward for Grassley, as he is 90 years old and has served in the senate since 1980.
When asked if he will run again, he chuckled and said, “As me again in four years.”