Grassley tours Washington’s Bazooka Farmstar facility

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley was in Washington Wednesday, where he toured Bazooka Farmstar and answered questions from employees and community leaders.

Grassley said he was impressed by his tour of the facility.

“I saw something about this plant on television, so I thought when I go to Washington County, I ought to go to this place,” Grassley said. “I see a lot of manure injection systems where I live in Butler and Grundy counties. They’re big, but not this big. So, you’re making something that I didn’t know existed.”

The question and answer session touched on a number of subjects from agriculture to infrastructure to worker shortage.

Rob Brenneman of Brenneman Pork expressed concerns about upcoming rule changes that will slow down line speed at meat packing plants.

“I just heard about this last Wednesday or Thursday,” Grassley responded. “There have been some comments from (Tom) Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, that they’re going to slow things up 2½ percent.

“That’s going to be a big problem. There are problems in the packing industry anyway, and this is going to compound those problems.”

Washington City Administrator Brent Hinson asked for an update on infrastructure legislation.

“We’re working on a bipartisan package, something like $600 billion or $800 billion for a five-year period of time that would be in the area of what you call infrastructure — highways, bridges, locks, dams and airports,” Grassley said. “That’s only one fourth of what the president wants for infrastructure.

“He wants $400 billion for Medicaid. That’s not infrastructure. We’re trying to get an understanding of what is infrastructure.”

Mary Audia, executive of the Washington Economic Development Group asked, “What are your thoughts on the workforce issue? Great companies like Bazooka Farmstar, Brenneman Pork and Civco just can’t find workers. It’s a nationwide issue.”

Grassley replied, “Don’t have the federal government be an unfair competitor to small businesses, giving people $300 not to work.”

He noted that a number of states, including Iowa, are ending enhanced unemployment benefits before the September deadline.

“After June 12, you’ll have more people applying for jobs in Iowa,” Grassley said.

Responding to a question about corporate tax policy, Grassley said that it will depend on the approach that Democrats, who hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate, use.

“If it’s got to be done by regular order, meaning it needs 60 votes, it won’t happen,” he said. “Every Republican is united to not do anything about that. If all the Democrats stick together they can do it by process of reconciliation.”

He added that raising the corporate tax rate will make the U.S. uncompetitive compared to other countries around the world.

A Bazooka Farmstar employee asked about rising gas prices.

Grassley said that OPEC and Biden share the blame.

“Some of it is on President Biden for not building the XL Pipeline,” Grassley said. “He shuts down the XL pipeline because it’s bad for the environment, but he could’ve stopped the pipeline from Russia to Germany by sanctioning the company.

“He decided to waive that sanction. So, it’s all right to build a pipeline there.”

He pointed out mixed messages coming from the administration.

“You’ve got the secretary of energy, when Colonial shut down because of the virus attack, she says, ‘We need pipelines. It’s the safest way to transport oil,’” Grassley said. “How does that square with the president saying, ‘We don’t need the XL pipeline’?”

Grassley questioned who in the administration is behind some of the progressive policies that the president has been touting.

He said that he believes it is a result of a deal Biden made with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to win the nomination in last year’s election.

“Before Biden got the nomination, (Democrats) thought that Sanders was going to get it,” Grassley said. “If Sanders had gotten the nomination, then he would have lost the election to Trump.

“So, Biden, in order to get the nomination, had to make agreements with Sanders and the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party.”

Grassley said that the Progressives are “right there in the White House” with Biden.

“We don’t know if he’s running the show or if people are doing it for him,” Grassley said. “He’s the one that appears on TV and does a pretty good job appearing on TV.

“How much of it is really his decision making? I don’t know.”

The final question of the session was whether Grassley, who is in his seventh term as senator, will run again next year.

“You’ll find out in the fall,” Grassley said. “I hope you would realize that I think I should give it a lot of thought. I’m no spring chicken. I enjoy serving the people of Iowa, and I love my work.”