ICYMI: Grassley Discusses Bipartisanship & Bringing Iowans’ Messages to Washington

ICYMI: Grassley Discusses Bipartisanship & Bringing Iowans' Messages to Washington

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined the 13th and Park podcast to discuss bipartisanship, food security and more.

Watch the full episode HERE. Subject-specific excerpts follow.

On the Top Concerns Iowans Raised at This Year's 99 County Meetings: "In two-thirds of the 99 counties, the Farm Bill came up - 'Why aren't we passing a five-year Farm Bill?' Beyond that, the irritation that Iowans have, and I think in the entire country, with Biden deciding to do different than Trump was doing, have an open border - having 10 million people illegally enter our country because, you know, you can't enter America without our permission, that's what the law says, but the president doesn't enforce the law. Then beyond that, and maybe even more so, is the high cost of living. For a family of four in Iowa, that's $7,500 more a year that they're spending, and that's burned into their budget for the rest of their life."

On Bipartisanship: "Partisanship is greater now than it's ever been in the 44 years I've been in the Senate, but I think people get the view that it's really bad - and so bad that Democrats don't talk to Republicans and vice versa. I like to explain to my constituents: to get to finality on an issue, you have to have bipartisanship."

"You get an awkward view of it from the media, because they like to always talk about the fighting that's going on in Washington. So when people get together and get something done, you never read about it, because it isn't fighting. You've got to have credibility. Journalism always emphasizing disagreement hurts the credibility of Congress."

On Amplifying Farmers' Voices in Washington: "It's important that the two percent of people that are actually family farmers speak up, so people know that food grows on farms and not in grocery stores, or milk comes out of a cow instead of out of a bottle. I think 98 percent of the people don't really realize that. So, speak up for it. In the United States Senate, those of us who are crop farmers have to speak up in the same way."

"I'm not the only one that knows something about agriculture, but I think I'm one of the few that have dirt under our fingernails, and that's what's so important - to get the word out. Because food security is a part of national security."

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