Grassley talks about Afghanistan, child care

As part of his annual 99-county tour of Iowa, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley visited with members of the Noon Rotary Club at the Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.

Rather than speak on a specific topic, Grassley chose to field a wide array of questions that ranged from his thoughts on the current situation in Afghanistan and the infrastructure bills making their way through Congress to who was his favorite president to work with.

On Afghanistan, Grassley expressed concern over how the withdrawal has been handled.

“You shouldn’t tell your enemies what you’re going to do by setting a date,” he said. “We’ve had other presidents make that same mistake.

“We should not leave there until we get all Americans out and all the people who have the (Special Immigrant Visas).”

He was asked what the difference was between immigrants coming from Mexico and immigrants coming from Afghanistan.

“The ones coming from Mexico would be entering the country illegally,” he responded. “The ones from Afghanistan are coming over on what we call an SIV (Special Immigrant Visa).”

Grassley, a Republican, criticized the Democrats’ handling of the two infrastructure bills going through Congress.

“You see this $3.5 trillion bill coming down the road if we don’t stop it,” he said. “(Progressives) want everything that’s in that, and they won’t do anything if they don’t get that, and they aren’t going to vote for the roads and bridges and the other physical infrastructure stuff that’s true infrastructure and very politically popular.

“We stopped that in the Senate by separating the two.”

Attorney Mike Vance questioned Grassley as to why he opposes money for child care that is included in the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill.

“I wouldn’t say I’m opposed to helping child care because since I’ve been on the Finance Committee, we’ve set up child care tax credits,” Grassley said.

Vance argued that tax credits do not necessarily cover child care expenses.

“We’re responding, as Republicans, not to the needs of child care or the needs of education or anything else in this bill,” Grassley responded. “We’re responding from the standpoint of the feeding the fires of inflation. Because of inflation, you don’t want the government spending any more money.”

At the start of the session, Grassley was asked who his favorite president to work with has been.

“The best one, because he seemed to be focused on a few things and doing those well, was Ronald Reagan,” Grassley said. “I think the president I liked personally the best was George W. Bush. I think George W. Bush is kind of like we Iowans. That’s why felt so comfortable with him.”

Grassley added that with Donald Trump, “It was hard to get through to him.”

“I say this sincerely I think he’d still be president of the United States if he just changed two words: I and me to we and us,” Grassley said. “I don’t know whether that’s possible.”

Following the session, Grassley was asked about his plans for 2022, when his current term is set to expire.

“It’ll be known to both me and you before Nov. 1,” he said. “I’m in a thoughtful mood about it.

“It’s got nothing to do whether I enjoy my job. I enjoy my job, I enjoy serving the people of Iowa. I enjoy visiting all 99 counties every year.”

He said that he feels healthy and that he will take into consideration the opinions of his wife and five children.

“Then, what do you pick up from Iowans?” he said. “I get a lot of encouragement to run, and I also know there are a lot of people who hope I retire.”