Chuck Grassley

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Chuck Grassley

Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (born September 17, 1933 in New Hartford , Butler County , Iowa ) is an American Republican Party politician . He has been a member of the United States Senate for the state of Iowa since 1981 . As chairman of important committees, he is considered one of the most powerful politicians in the Senate. He has been its President pro tempore since 2019 .

Family, education and work

Grassley is the son of Louis Arthur Grassley and Ruth Corwin and grew up on his parents' farm in butler County, central northern Iowa. He studied at Iowa State Teachers College , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1955 and his master's degree in political science in 1956. From 1959 to 1961 Grassley worked as a metal cutter, from 1961 to 1971 as an assembly line worker. From 1962 to 1971 he was a member of the International Association of Machinists . He was also a farmer and university lecturer.

The Baptist and Freemason is a member of the conservative Christian group " The Family ", which organizes the National Prayer Breakfast . He married Barbara geb. Speicher in 1954 and lives with her in his native New Hartford, Iowa, where he returns from Washington almost every weekend. You have five children.

Political career

In 1956, Grassley stood for the first time for the House of Representatives from Iowa , but was defeated in this first political candidacy. In November 1958 he was elected to this lower house of the State Legislature and was a member of it until 1974.

In the election in 1974 he succeeded in the 3rd congressional district of Iowa of entry into the United States House of Representatives ; In 1976 and 1978 he was re-elected and exercised his mandate there for the central and eastern north of the state until January 3, 1981.

In the 1980 election he ran for the United States Senate , triumphed against the Democratic mandate holder John Culver and entered the Senate on January 3, 1981. He has been a member of this without interruption and won the following elections in 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004 and 2010. Most recently, he successfully ran for another mandate in the 2016 election , which runs until January 3, 2023. He received over 60 percent of the vote in all elections. Every year, Grassley holds events in each of Iowa's 99 counties .

Grassley became one of the most powerful senators in his party. From 2003 to 2007 he was chairman of the finance committee of the Senate and from 2007 to 2010 its ranking member , i.e. the highest-ranking representative of the minority party. In January 2019, Grassley will move back to chair the finance committee. As of January 2015, Grassley served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee , which was chaired by Lindsey Graham in January 2019 . Grassley returned to Chair of the Finance Committee in January 2019. As the longest-serving Senator of the majority party, Grassley has been President pro tempore of the Senate since January 3, 2019 - after Orrin Hatch's departure - and thus ranks third in succession to the President of the United States .

Positions and controversies

Grassley has spoken out against cross-border leasing . He was one of only two Republicans to vote against the Second Gulf War in 1991 , but voted to authorize the Iraq War in 2002. As chairman of the Finance Committee, he was involved in the George W. Bush administration's tax cuts in the early 2000s and identified many cases of waste and fraud in public spending, which has earned him praise from consumer protection and taxpayers' associations. In the Senate, he also played a leading role in antitrust legislation and reforms to immigration law and health insurance. In 2006, for example, he pushed through an expansion of Medicare , which guarantees support for prescription drugs, and was a major opponent of the government in the Obamacare health care reform implemented in 2010, but spoke out against attacking the law on legal proceedings.

Grassley is known for making unusual statements. His "clearly uncoordinated" tweets made him a cult figure. In 2009, Grassley caused an international stir with his request to cut public funding from the National Science Foundation because its employees allegedly consumed excessive pornographic content on the Internet during their working hours. Shortly afterwards, a statement by Grassley in the wake of the AIG bankruptcy became very well known. He advised the managers who, after government grants worth billions of dollars, paid off bonuses despite mismanagement: "Follow the Japanese example: make a bow - and then either step back or commit suicide."

Grassley defended the controversial doubling of the inheritance tax allowances in late 2017, saying, “I think not having to pay inheritance tax is a recognition for the people who invest, as opposed to those who simply invest every damn penny they get have to spend, be it for schnapps, women or films. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chuck Grassley's Biography. In: Vote Smart ; The Secret Political Reach Of 'The Family'. In: National Public Radio , November 24, 2009; Debra Bell: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chuck Grassley. In: US News & World Report , September 9, 2009.
  2. ↑ Debra Bell: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chuck Grassley. In: US News & World Report , September 9, 2009; Grassley, Chuck. In: Our Campaigns.
  3. ^ Gregory Lewis McNamee: Chuck Grassley. In: Encyclopedia Britannica , last updated September 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kevin Freking: Graham poised to lead Judiciary panel after Grassley switch. In: Associated Press , November 16, 2018.
  5. ^ Grassley takes helmet of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In: The Des Moines Register , January 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ James McWilliams: Chuck Grassley's Crusade to Tax University Endowments. In: Pacific Standard , January 3, 2019.
  7. ↑ Kevin Glueck: Sen. Grassley sworn in as President Pro Tempore. In: CBS2 Iowa , January 3, 2018.
  8. ↑ Debra Bell: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chuck Grassley. In: US News & World Report , September 9, 2009.
  9. ^ Gregory Lewis McNamee: Chuck Grassley. In: Encyclopedia Britannica , last updated September 13, 2018.
  10. ^ Lee Banville: Covering American Politics in the 21st Century: An Encyclopedia of News Media Titans, Trends, and Controversies. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, CA, Denver 2017, p. 574 .
  11. ↑ Porn scandal endangers science funding. In: Spiegel Online , January 30, 2009.
  12. ^ Thomas Vieregge: USA: People's anger about top managers. In: Die Presse , March 18, 2009.
  13. ↑ Chuck Grassley attempts to clarify 'booze or women' estate tax comments. In: The Guardian , December 4, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Grassley, Chuck
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grassley, Charles Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Republican Party politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH New Hartford , Iowa