Sen. Chuck Grassley visits constituents in Washington

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley made a stop in Washington Wednesday morning as part of his annual 99-county tour.

The senator was originally scheduled to speak at the State Theater Tuesday afternoon, but the event was postponed a day due to President Donald Trump visiting Cedar Rapids.

During the question and answer session, the senator answered questions on a variety of topics including the governor's and president's response to the derecho, mail-in ballots and schools reopening this fall.

Following the derecho on Aug. 10, Gov. Kim Reynolds requested relief funds. A request for $3 billion for farmers and homeowners has not yet been fulfilled.

Grassley said hours after the governor requested funds for major disaster relief it was granted. The governor has been criticized for not requesting the funding soon enough, but Grassley said certain thresholds needed to be met before a request could be made.

'If those aren't accurate, and they get pushed back, you have to make further determinations. The governor did it the proper way, and it took about four days, but it was immediately approved,” he said.

The $3 billion in funds that have not yet granted is specifically for individuals, he said. Grassley said this was not requested at the same time as the other relief funds, because the threshold was not met. He now feels the threshold has been met and the request will be granted.

Another hot topic in the news has been the U.S. Postal Service and the concern around mail-in ballots. Grassley said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has only been in office for two months but has promised to stop the reforms he was attempting to put in place due to concerns over the election.

'He's going to suspend them just so there isn't any doubt that he's doing it for political purposes,” he said.

DeJoy serves in a non-partisan position and was appointed by a board of governors of the Postal Service, not the president, he said.

Concerns have risen about additional mail due to mail-in ballots, but Grassley said the increase would only be 2 percent and feels the service can sustain operations.

When a question was raised about students returning to school, Grassley said he has heard from many superintendents over the last few months who are seeking guidance. With 330 different school districts in the state, he said, there were 330 different ways to handle students returning to classrooms in the fall.

The problem most districts are having is accommodating parents, he said.

'I think safety of our children is very important, but also if you've been reading since March, particularly in younger kids, lack of socializing has brought on a lot of discipline and mental health problems,” he said.

Grassley said it's important to look at the danger of having children in the classroom but also the dangers of not having them in class. Grassley said he was glad to hear Trump encourage districts to open the schools and welcome students back.

'You have a lot of people who come from home environments where they will be left out if they aren't in the classroom,” he said.