User:Brawrg1/Charles Grassley

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Chuck Grassley
Senior Senator from Iowa
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 5, 1981 Serving with Tom Harkin
Preceded by	John Culver
Born	September 17, 1933 (1933-09-17) (age 74) New Hartford, Iowa
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Barbara Grassley
Alma mater	University of Northern Iowa
Religion	Baptist
Website	United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was chairman of the Finance Committee from January to June 2001, and from January 2003 to December 2006 and currently serves as the committee's Ranking Member.

[edit] Early life

Born in New Hartford, Iowa to Ruth Corwin and Louis Arthur Grassley,^[1] Grassley lived in Iowa during his early life. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1955 where he was elected to the prestigious Pi Gamma Mu international honor society, and received a graduate degree from the same university in 1956.

In 1987 Grassley was made an honorary member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity at Iowa State University.

[edit] Political career

Grassley, a former assembly line worker and farmer, has been involved in politics for much of his adult life. An active runner, Grassley served as a citizen legislator in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959 until 1974, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, of which he was a member from 1975 to 1981, being reelected in 1976 and 1978. He was elected to his Senate seat in 1980, defeating the Democratic incumbent, John Culver, who had only served one term. Grassley was reelected in 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004.

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

In the past, Grassley has voted against expensive projects favored by many in his party. ^{[citation needed]} He was one of two Republicans to vote against authorizing the first Gulf War. He is a senior member of the Finance Committee and has a moderate record on tax cuts.

Since 1976, Senator Grassley has repeatedly introduced measures that increase the level of double taxation on American citizens living abroad, including retroactive tax hikes. The effects are particularly dramatic in countries where the taxation structure differs from the United States. These tax increases were amplified as the dollar declined precipitously against world currencies. Even if a citizen's income remains the same, they could expect a double digit percentage increase to the US portion of their double tax. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

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." ^[5]

At one time, Grassley was ranked as the third most powerful senator. As of March 2007, he was ranked 25 on the list. ^[6] A late December 2007 poll shows Grassley remains highly popular in Iowa, with 66% approving of his job, and 26% disapproving.[2]

[edit] Environmental record

In 2005, Charles Grassley received a 7 percent 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.

Senator Grassley received a 10 percent from the League of Conservation Voters ("LCV") scorecard for his votes pro-environment votes on the issues of renewable energy and farm conservation programs. ^[7] 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.

In 2006, Senator Grassley received a 0 percent from the REP^[8] and a 14 percent from the LCV^[9]. According to these organization, 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.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Finance (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on International Trade and Global Competitiveness (Ex-Officio)
  • Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy (Ex-Officio)
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
  • Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees
• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
• Committee on the Budget
• Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Chairman)
• Joint Committee on Taxation

[edit] Whistleblowers

Grassley has campaigned to increase protection and provide support for "whistle-blowers". 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.

[edit] 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, a Christian group that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast. Grassley is also a Freemason, and is a Baptist.

[edit] Grassley's letter

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (March 2008)

On November 6, 2007,Grassley announced an investigation of televangelists Benny Hinn, Paula White, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.^[10] In a letter to each ministry, Grassley asked for the ministries to divulge financial information to the committee to determine if any of the evangeslist made any personal profit from financial donations, and requested that the ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007.^[11] According to IRS audits, none of the evangelists have used donor monies for personal advantage or illegal gain.^[12] As required by law, the many of the evangelists freely responded with a Financial report from their respective Ministries. Senator Grassley's office issued a statement which said the ministries response has fallen "far short," and that while lines of communications are open, "additional steps in the congressional review" also would be considered. However, at this point, Sen. Grassley has failed to reveal or identify any violation of IRS non-compliance whatsoever, and when asked why he simply stated that "Jesus rode a donkey for transportation." Some critics consider Grassley's scriptural interpretation as simply bad theology.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Chuck Grassley official Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• New York Times — Charles E. Grassley News collected news and commentary
• The New Republic — "The strange heroism of Chuck Grassley. Earnest Goes to Washington" Eve Fairbanks, September 10, 2007 (subscription required)

v • d • e United States Senators from Iowa Class 2: Jones • Grimes • Howell • Wright • Kirkwood • McDill • J. Wilson • Gear • Dolliver • Young • Kenyon • Rawson • Brookhart • Steck • Dickinson • Herring • G. Wilson • Gillette • Martin • Miller • Clark • Jepsen • Harkin Class 3: Dodge • Harlan • Kirkwood • Harlan • Allison • Cummins • Stewart • Brookhart • Murphy • Gillette • Hickenlooper • Hughes • Culver • Grassley