GREENFIELD, Iowa – U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, today held his 99th county meeting in Iowa for the 41st consecutive year as part of his annual 99 county meetings with an hour-long public town meeting in Adair County.
With this meeting, Grassley marks the conclusion of another year in his 41-year practice of holding at least one question-and-answer session with Iowans in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has done so every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1980. The hallmark of his meetings are the open-topic question-and-answer sessions where Grassley invites and responds to questions and comments on any subject. Grassley’s efforts to go to Iowans where they work, study and live set a standard for representative government. Grassley also makes himself available for 15 minutes after each meeting to answer questions from local news media.
“Representative government is a two-way street. I’m one half of the process and the people of Iowa are the other half. You can’t have representative government without dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent. I appreciate the opportunity to hold these meetings, answer questions and listen to comments on any subject from Iowans. The cross-section of people I get to meet with during town meetings and in their workplaces, offices and factory floors, in schools and at service organizations, helps me keep in touch and take the common sense of Iowans from all perspectives to work in Washington,” Grassley said.
“In 41 years, our state has changed and grown a lot. But the common sense and pragmatism of Iowans has endured, and helps me do a better job representing our home in the nation’s capital. I’m grateful this year and every year to hear from Iowans this way. I look forward to my annual 99 county meetings next year and every year I have the honor to serve Iowans in the U.S. Senate,” he added.
Topics frequently raised at this year’s meetings included COVID-19 economic relief, infrastructure, prescription drug pricing, transparency in the cattle industry, bipartisanship, derecho disaster aid, rural health care and telehealth, wind and solar energy, immigration, congressional oversight and investigations, rural broadband, the national debt, the Renewable Fuel Standard, international trade and federal regulations.
Grassley kicked offthis year’s meetings in Jasper and Poweshiek counties.
To view the full list of meetings so far this year, check out Grassley’s 99 County Meetings page on his website.
