Sen. Grassley Makes Stop In Mills County
PACIFIC JUNCTION - U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) made an appearance at AgriVision Equipment Thursday, Aug. 9, during his annual summer swing through southwest Iowa.
Grassley discussed several issues with AgriVision employees before getting a brief tour of the farm equipment facility. His Mills County stop was one of five public appearances on the day for Iowa’s senior senator.
In an interview with The Opinion-Tribune, Grassley said he’s had engaging dialog with Iowans during his visits back to the state this summer.
“Health insurance, health care costs, the budget deficit, tariffs and trade, Farm Bill, infrastructure and the supreme court vacancy are some of the issues we’re hearing about,” Grassley said.
Grassley, the chair of the senate judiciary committee, said he’d like to have confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh completed by Oct. 1, and definitely before the November general election. On Friday, the day after his visit to Mills County, Grassley announced that hearings for Kavanaugh will begin on Sept. 4. Grassley said he expects the hearings to last three or four days.
During his AgriVision stop, Grassley acknowledged the statewide interest and concerns about trade and tariffs proposed by President Trump. Grassley and other state political and agricultural leaders have voiced their concerns to the Trump administration about the impact the tariffs and trade policies could have on the state’s ag economy.
“I think we’re making some progress on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and some progress with Europe,” he said. “At least things are quieting down with the NAFTA negotiations and the threats that we could foresee in regard to U.S. vs. Europe, but there’s not much of an update I can give you with China.”
Grassley’s visit to Mills County came one day after highly-publicized raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations at businesses in Nebraska and a handful of other states. The businesses are suspected of employing undocumented workers. Grassley was asked if any progress is being made in Washington on immigration reform, an issue the senator admits he and his colleagues in Congress have struggled to address over the past 30 to 40 years.
“I’m one of the few people in the United States Senate who voted to legalize 3 million people in 1986 and we thought we honestly secured the border by taking away the magnet of the people who come here to work by making it illegal for employers to hire undocumented immigrants,” he said. “It didn’t work because the $10,000 fine doesn’t work if you have fraudulent documents. As an employer, you think they’re legitimate. It just didn’t work.”
Grassley said there is some “agreement and common sense approach” in dealing with skilled and agricultural workers, but it’s difficult to get an immigration bill to the senate floor without amendments being attached.
“You’ll have people on the right who say we’re not going to pass an immigration bill unless you load 11 million people up and get them out of the country and on the left, you have people who will say we aren’t going to have an immigration bill unless we legalize 11 million people,” he said. “We’ve been telling people for 10-15 years we’re going to secure the border and we haven’t secured the border. We don’t have any credibility for comprehensive immigration reform.”
Grassley said immigration reform starts with stronger security at the Mexico border, but not with a “2,300-mile wall.” Instead, he said he supports additional fence and electronic surveillance equipment, more border patrol and interior enforcement and doing away existing “catch and release” policies.