Meetings in 30 Communities

During the Senate’s two-week recess for Easter, I’m holding meetings with Iowans in 30 communities, working to strengthen the process of representative government with dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent in Congress. I’m pictured above last Tuesday with student council members, and the principal, superintendent, and student council advisor at Northwood-Kensett Jr./Sr. High School. My meetings include Q&A... Read more

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A New Window for Trade Expansion

U.S. jobs are dependent on international trade. One of every four rows of U.S. soybeans is shipped to China. More than one-fifth of all manufacturing workers in Iowa depend on exports for their jobs. That’s why it was good news to hear the Obama administration commit to working on a lapsed policy that would expand trade opportunities for U.S. producers after a long period of inactivity. At a recent Senate hearing, the top U.S. trade representative acknowledged the Obama administration is finally... Read more

Baby Steps in Transparency

Last week the Supreme Court again released audio of the oral arguments of two landmark cases before the court. I applaud Chief Justice John Roberts’ near-immediate release of the audio, but it’s time to take another step forward and allow live audio and video coverage of the court. The court first began releasing audio of landmark cases in 2000 after I pressed then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist to release audio of the arguments of Bush v. Gore, the Florida... Read more

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Court Case Curbs EPA Excess

Last week, the Iowa League of Cities won its appeal in federal court against an attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose a new process for handling wastewater on several Iowa cities that would have cost Iowans hundreds of millions of dollars. The federal appeals court confirmed that the EPA dictate was not necessary to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act and current regulations. The court rejected the claim by the Environmental Protection Agency that its mandate to Iowa cities was just an interpretation of existing rules, which is a way for agencies to make an end run around the rulemaking process, a process designed for stakeholder voices to be considered and for the federal bureaucracy to be held as accountable as possible. In 2008 and 2009, I forwarded questions to the Environmental... Read more