[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 168 (Friday, October 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S16106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SENATOR CHARLES GRASSLEY

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, Senator Grassley is not only an able and 
dedicated U.S. Senator, but he is also a progressive, scientific, and 
outstanding farmer. His colleagues in the Senate hold him in high 
esteem, not only for these qualities but also for his integrity, 
courage, and ability. We are proud of him and the great service he is 
rendering our country.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article contained in the Hill be 
printed in the Record so that others will learn more about this fine 
American.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From the Hill, Oct. 25, 1995]

                        Senator Charles Grassley

                           (By Albert Eisele)

       You can't get much more grassroots than Sen. Charles 
     Grassley (R-Iowa).
       Early this month, the 62-year-old crusader against federal 
     waste was at the wheel of an International Harvester 1450 
     tractor, hauling a load of soybeans to a grain elevator near 
     his family farm in northeastern Iowa.
       The only working farmer in the Senate, Grassley interrupted 
     his farming chores to issue a press release informing his 
     constituents he had regained his Agriculture Committee seat, 
     which he was forced to give up in January when committee 
     assignments were redistributed after Republicans took control 
     of the Senate.
       But last week, Grassley was back in the Senate, behind the 
     closed doors of the Finance Committee helping Republicans 
     work out disagreements over their controversial $245-billion 
     tax cut package, and then defending that package from 
     Democratic criticism in full committee.
       ``If you're concerned about balancing the budget, you'll be 
     for this program,'' Grassley declared as he and his GOP 
     colleagues sent their historic tax package to the Senate 
     floor as part of the even more historic budget reconciliation 
     bill.
       Then, using a metaphor appropriate to his Iowa origins and 
     his parochial view of his role in the Senate, once described 
     by Congressional Quarterly as ``pigs and pork,'' Grassley 
     said, ``The people of this country are tired of living high 
     on the hog, and not worrying about our children or 
     grandchildren paying for it.''
       For the man who is the philosophical heir of the late Rep. 
     H. R. Gross (R), the quintessential penny-pinching legislator 
     whom Grassley succeeded in the House in 1974, it was a 
     characteristic moment.
       Never hailed as an intellectual giant or an inspiring 
     orator, the easy-going third-term senator has made his name, 
     and compiled a truly imposing campaign record, by balancing 
     the needs of Iowa farmers and small businesses with the 
     national yearning for fiscal discipline in government.
       Despite one of the lowest profiles in the Senate, Grassley 
     has managed, by stint of sheer hard work, country-bred 
     political smarts and a low-octane ego, to place himself in 
     the middle of the Senate debate over the big ticket issues of 
     tax cuts, budget balancing and welfare reform at the heart of 
     the Republican revolution.
       As a member of the Finance Committee, the number two 
     Republican on the Budget Committee behind Chairman Pete 
     Domenici (R-N.M.), and a member of the House-Senate 
     conference committee on welfare reform which holds its first 
     meeting today, Grassley is perfectly positioned to add to his 
     already impressive electoral achievements in Iowa, where he 
     has never lost a race.
       Elected to the state legislature while studying for a 
     doctorate at the University of Iowa--he left school after he 
     was elected and never returned--Grassley took over his family 
     farm after his father died in 1960.
       By 1974, when he won a narrow victory over a Democratic 
     opponent to replace the retiring Rep. Gross, Grassley had 
     bought additional acreage--It's now just under 600 acres--and 
     turned the farm over to his son Robin, who still farms it, 
     with weekend help from his father in the fall and spring.
       Then, in 1980, after Iowa voters dumped liberal Democratic 
     Sen. Dick Clark in favor of conservative Republican Roger 
     Jepson two years earlier, Grassley took on Clark's liberal 
     Democratic colleague, John Culver, after winning 90 of the 
     state's 99 counties in the GOP primary.
       His emphasis on pocketbook issues and his earnest demeanor, 
     which belied Culver's charges that he was a tool of the Moral 
     Majority and New Right, earned Grassley an unexpectedly 
     comfortable victory with 54 percent of the vote.
       Amazingly, for someone whose name and accomplishments are 
     little-known outside of Iowa, and widely discounted inside 
     the Washington Beltway, Grassley has one of the best records 
     as a campaigner of anyone in the Senate. Of the 43 senators 
     who have run for three or more terms, Grassley is the only 
     one, other than John Warner (R-Va.) and two others who ran 
     unopposed, who has significantly improved his electoral 
     margin in each of the last three elections.
       After winning 54 percent of the vote in 1980, he easily 
     disposed of his Democratic challenger in 1986 by taking 66 
     percent of the vote, and crushed his opponent in 1992, highly 
     touted state Sen. Jean Lloyd-Jones, by winning 70 percent of 
     the vote.
       The latter victory was one of historic proportions as he 
     carried every single county while winning by the largest 
     statewide margin in the country, and winning more votes than 
     any candidate in the history of the state--President 
     Eisenhower had the old record.
       Grassley has an uncanny ability to translate national 
     issues, such as defense fraud, tax reform, out-of-control 
     government spending, congressional accountability, and 
     international trade--especially for Iowa farm and 
     manufacturing products--into issues of local appeal.
       Grassley scored one of his major successes earlier this 
     year when the 104th Congress enacted its first piece of 
     legislation, the Congressional Accountability Act that made 
     Congress subject to the same labor and anti-discrimination 
     laws that apply to all Americans. Grassley has been pushing 
     for such a law since 1989.
       But it was his attack on government waste and fraud that 
     first brought him public attention. In 1984, as chairman of 
     the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Practices, he 
     publicized the notorious $47,600 coffee maker bought by the 
     Air Force. Then, in 1990, he won headlines by uncovering 
     Pentagon purchases of $999 screwdrivers and $1,868 toilet 
     seats.
       Grassley is proudest of two major achievements, passage of 
     the Congressional Accountability Act and his work with Rep. 
     Howard Berman (D-Calif.) in promoting the 1986 ``whistle 
     blower'' provisions, known as the ``qui tam'' amendments to 
     the False Claims Act, which enabled the Justice Department to 
     recover more than $1 billion in civil fraud cases since 1986.
       Over breakfast in the Senate Dining Room last week, 
     Grassley, who had a very unIowa-like breakfast--a grapfruit 
     with honey and black coffee--commented, almost 
     apologetically, on the fact that very little major 
     legislation bears his name.
       ``Sometimes I think the passage of legislation might not 
     necessarily be the best way to measure a person's most 
     important accomplishments,'' he said. ``Sometimes, it's what 
     you might do to stop a bad administrative action or get an 
     amicus brief before the Supreme Court on child pornography.''
       Grassley has already signed on-to Senate Majority Leader 
     Bob Dole's (Kan.) presidential bandwagon, so it's no surprise 
     he predicts Dole will win the bellwether Iowa caucuses next 
     February. But he concedes that Dole will have to beat the 38-
     percent figure he got in 1986.
       And for those who want to bet a long shot, the most 
     successful politician in Iowa history offers this startling 
     advice: ``Keep an eye on Phil Gramm [R-Texas]. He's the one 
     to watch.''

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