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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, as Iowans have come to expect of this Senator, in August, I finished my annual 99 county meetings, holding at least one Q&A meeting in every county across my home State. I have kept up this tradition for 44 years in a row. The hallmark of my meetings is hour-long question and answer sessions. No question is off limits.

This year, a third of my meetings were open town meetings, and the rest were hosted by high schools, small businesses, service clubs, farmers, and hospitals throughout the State.

Ever since I started my meetings in 1981, the variety of meetings has been the same. I want to hear from a cross-section of the population, and the best way to do that is to go to them where they work, study, and raise their families. No matter the setting, the format is the same. Iowans set the agenda.

During the course of my travels, I have learned about businesses that I never knew existed. I have come to the conclusion that that is the case because Iowans don't brag enough about what goes on in our State, particularly in some of the businesses that I have learned about.

I have observed the hard work and ingenuity of Iowa workers on the factory floors, where they put together, for instance, trailer beds. I learned about infant formula being made in the town of Allerton, population: 430.

The heart and might of rural America are inspiring, although they don't come without hardships, especially as Iowans face low commodity prices and the absence of a new 5-year farm bill.

One purpose of my meetings is to keep my finger on the pulse of Iowans and the issues that impact them the most. This year, I was struck by the number of people who told me about the high cost of living, how it is making it hard to put food on the table and how it makes it hard to pay their utility bills. Iowans are hurting from the high cost of food at the grocery store--up 21 percent since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office.

Iowans ask about illegal immigrants flooding across our border. For the last 3\1/2\ years, they see migrants crossing the Rio Grande. They see it on television almost every night. That has added up to the tune of about 10 million people on the Biden-Harris watch.

Long before I came to Congress, a law was passed to make entering our country without our country's permission illegal. Iowans can't make sense of the open border policies of the Biden-Harris administration. They implore me to secure our border and to protect American citizens. Protecting the American people is the No. 1 responsibility of the Federal Government. Unfortunately, we have a President who is not upholding his oath to faithfully execute the laws.

At a town meeting, someone from the back of the room will often shout: How come you guys in Washington, DC, can't do something about the problem at the border?

My answer: There is too much partisanship, but Republicans and Democrats work together a lot more than you would think.

I am fighting for the family farmer and the 57,000 jobs in the biofuel industry in my State by pushing to make E15 permanent year- round, alongside colleagues across the aisle from Illinois and Minnesota.

Or take my work with Senator Cantwell to rein in pharmacy benefit managers--PBMs, we call them in this town. An attendee at my Osceola town meeting told me their medicine went up from $300 to $1,000. When you tack this on top of the inflation of the last 3 years, you can understand the pain in their eyes when they plead with me to lower the cost of prescription drugs. It is one of my top priorities, and I am not going to give up until the job is done.

Too often, Americans feel Congress doesn't understand the challenges facing their families. The best way to reduce this cynicism is to look your constituents in the eye and listen to them. For more than four decades, that is what I have done.

Once I have hit all 99 counties, you may think that is the end of my touring the State and listening to Iowans, but I look forward to many more Q&As between now and the end of this year.

Representative government is a two-way street. Those of us elected are one-half of that process and our constituents, the other half of that process. Dialogue is the essence of representative government. I believe my 44-year track record shows my commitment to holding up my end of the bargain.

I want to thank every Iowan who comes to my county meetings. For those who can't get to the meetings, I remind Iowans my door is always open. That most often happens by people sending me emails, calling my office, or writing a letter. I want to tell them, as I do at every meeting, you will get a response. And if you don't get a response, let me know because you are entitled to an answer. And if I promise you an answer, I want to make sure you get one.

I look forward to starting my 45th year of holding my 99 county meetings when 2025 comes around.

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