Grassley touches on various topics during annual visit

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Area residents had the opportunity to question U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Friday afternoon and they made the most of the opportunity.

Questions and comments were delivered on a myriad of topics, ranging from the Keystone Pipeline to taxation and many topics in between.

Grassley, 81, who has made it a priority to visit all 99 Iowa counties each year, conducted a town-hall format meeting at Access Energy in Mt. Pleasant.

?I do this (meeting with resident in every Iowa county) because this is the best way to stay in touch,? he began. ?If we are going to have representative government, I have to communicate with you, and you have to communicate with me.?

Asked to explain his vote in favor of the Keystone pipeline, he said one of the top reasons is that it is a safer method of transporting petroleum.

?Why would you want the pipeline when you have all these train accidents carrying oil, spilling it and polluting the environment?? he answered. ?It is safer to transport it through a pipeline and it would create 20,000-30,000 jobs during construction.

?It (pipeline) was vetoed by the president because environ-mentalists told him to veto it,? the senator continued. ?Canada will harvest all the resources it can, and if we don?t want it, they will sell it to Canada. Whatever they (Canada) do, it will cause some damage to the environment.?

Bert Miller, rural Mt. Pleasant, complained that many corporations do not pay federal income taxes while other individuals and small businesses feel the brunt of taxation.

Grassley said that much of the reason for the corporation loopholes is that they are exporters. ?We are the only country that doesn?t tax money until it comes home,? he explained. ?We should do it like other countries and tax money where it is made. You?re paying taxes because you don?t export products or keep money overseas.?

The senator, who will be running for a seventh term in November of 2016, said he will not be endorsing a GOP candidate for presidents, relating that only twice in his career has he done so ? Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush four years later. ?It would not be smart for me to endorse anyone since I am on the ballot.?

Weighing in on the crowded GOP field, Grassley said the party would be better off with five or six candidates. ?This is America where we aren?t going to keep anyone out. How are you going to put 19 people on the (debate) platform??

Responding to a question on his position regarding the Patriot Act, Grassley said he thinks some parts of the law should be preserved while others changed.

?I would like to do away with the government taking in phone numbers,? he began. ?People want us to get rid of government workers listening in. However, I do not think there is enough transparency in the House bill.?

The Patriot Act expired last night, but Senate Republicans have agreed to debate a House bill that would overhaul the National Security Agency?s handling of Americans? calling records while preserving other domestic surveillance provisions.

However, the Senate still must pass a bill that will be approved by the House. If that happens, surveillance programs will resume, with some significant changes in how the phone records are handled. If the bill is not passed, phone records will remain dormant.

Other parts of the act that expired Sunday night included allowing the FBI to collect business records in terrorism and espionage investigations, and to more easily eavesdrop on a suspect who is discarding cellphone to avoid surveillance.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill will receive a vote in the senior chamber on Tuesday or Wednesday. The Senate voted to move ahead with consideration of the USA Freedom Act, by a 77-17 vote.

He said his committee (Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee) is moving ahead with prison sentencing reform. ?We are starting from scratch,? he reported. ?We are negotiating with all people on the committee. Personally, I would favor some reduction in mandatory sentencing, but I am not saying my ideas can?t be compromised. I also see some inequality between (sentencing for) blue- and white-collar crime. We?re talking through this and making progress.?

Finally, he expressed frustration with what he termed the lack of transparency in the Obama administration.

?I am frustrated and so are other House and Senate members with having such difficulty in getting information,? he remarked. ?Where this president is different than others is that he said he would be the most transparent president and he is the most stonewalling president.?