Chuck Grassley

The issue of racial integration is the most pressing issue facing fair housing enforcers.

Besides the work of Senator Harkin, we have an outstanding farm bill because of the hard work of the Senator from North Dakota.

The budget resolution proposes that Congress delay several CMS Medicaid regulations that are unpopular with states and advocates. I know some people have concerns with the CMS Medicaid regulations. I am not going to argue they are perfect…

However, the regulations do address areas where there are problems in Medicaid. Somehow I read this budget resolution as not recognizing those real problems. States don't have clear guidance and could be inappropriately spending taxpayers'…

No, you would not. In fact, it detracts from it. Because too often reconciliation tends to be a partisan issue, and we will never get SCHIP through here that is not bipartisan. I think you are making the case that I have taken a long time…

I agree. I have supported the enactment of the TREE Act for several years, and will work to see it enacted early in 2008.

I agree with him that these rural hospitals--the so-called ``tweener'' hospitals--should be given some assistance. These hospitals play a critical role in the medical care of our seniors throughout Iowa, and I remain committed to working…

But I do want to continue to correct a couple of things the Senator from Kansas has spoken about. First, I was listening as he was quoting from the Department of Justice letter. And he may have a later letter, but those exact words that he…

Technical corrections are derived from a deliberative and consultative process among the Congressional and Administration tax staffs. That means the Republican and Democratic staffs of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees…

The difference is the old version of pay-go applied it as a backstop to a budget resolution. So if a proposal spent more than the budget permitted and added to the deficit, a pay-go point of order was possible. Likewise, if a proposal to…

I think the president is doing this now. It's catch up time, because he didn't veto very many spending bills during the years that the Republicans controlled Congress.

This bill is a bipartisan approach where a lot of different points of view were brought together to a bill that can pass this Senate. We have people on the left for whom $50 billion might not be enough money. We have people on the right…

I said you would have to have debate in order to keep your promise or it doesn't mean anything.

The only response I can give to the Senator from Massachusetts is that we have worked very hard in the Finance Committee to make sure that private income tax information and private Social Security information is protected. It seems to me…

I would like to say why I ought to have debate on my amendment. If I don't talk about the substance of the amendment, can I talk about why I ought to be able to bring up the amendment?

I do ask this question: Does the Senator from New Hampshire know that the President of the United States, when he was in Brazil, was quoted in the paper as telling President Lulu that the ethanol export--the import credit would not be…

I completely agree that dealing with the AMT is a priority issue and that Congress needs to address it. The alternative minimum tax is an absolutely maddening tax that has insidiously crept into the homes of more and more families each…

Let me verify, not only from the National Corn Growers Association, as you read from their letter, but I can tell you, from the town meetings I had during the Easter break and also during the February break, from the grassroots of my…

The issue is the level of civil and monetary penalties. If the fines are nothing more than the cost of doing business, you can't change behavior and you can't deter bad behavior. My feeling is the levels in this underlying bill are not…

So as the budget resolution slowly works its way through Congress, one especially important issue wrapped up in this whole great big budget resolution and document is the longevity of the bipartisan tax relief that was enacted in 2001 and…

The Senate just voted on an amendment that makes a good first step to putting kids first in SCHIP. However, it is all well and good to say we are putting kids first. But the amendment we just voted on is not worth the paper it is printed…

I agree, yes. I emphasize that we are told by the chairman of the Budget Committee time after time that there is no tax increase in this budget. But if you do nothing--and doing nothing is not an excuse to have the biggest tax increase in…

Let me say, if I could raise the amount of money which is assumed to be raised here, I would have done away with the alternative minimum tax a long time ago because you need that kind of offset to get that job done over the long haul.

Well, I could imagine so because they are a party that enjoys increasing taxes. So I can understand that.

Indeed. The enactment of that legislation demonstrates that the retention of Finance Committee jurisdiction over customs revenue functions and commercial operations does not in any way diminish the effective oversight of other functions…