Sen. Grassley Hears FEMA Concerns At Town Hall
Thu, 07/23/2020 - 5:28pm
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U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) answered questions about a variety of topics during a socially-distanced, invitation-only town hall meeting last Wednesday at Glenwood City Hall.
Federal flood assistance, grain market prices, the national debt, China and rural broadband were among the issues Grassley was asked to address from the audience of about a dozen business leaders and local government officials.
Grassley spent a good portion of the meeting hearing about the frustration local officials have with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) handling of matters related to the 2019 flood that caused catastrophic damage in southwest Iowa.
“As far as Pacific Junction goes, we’re having issues with FEMA wanting to change the playing field on us,” Pacific Junction Mayor Andy Young said. “They’re talking about not wanting to go back with our lift stations – they’re making excuses why they’re not going to do that. They’re saying they’re not going to have demolition money for the green space that they’ve encouraged us to do. The things they’re doing just don’t make any sense.
“On one hand they’re buying out your city and on another hand they’re saying you need to spend this money to beautify and upgrade. I know my city clerk is ready to pull her hair out.”
Young said Pacific Junction has had its FEMA case manager change several times and after each change, the city has had to basically start the application process over from scratch.
County supervisor Richard Crouch said the county is encountering red tape getting reimbursed from FEMA for flood-related expenses that have already been paid for from the county’s general fund.
“It’s frustrating that here it was supposed to be paid for by FEMA,” Crouch said. “They said, ‘Yes, this is part of it, we’ll take care of it.’ Now, we’ve come to the point where we need our money.”
Glenwood Community School District Superintendent Devin Embray said the school district has had some similar issues dealing with FEMA as the district has sought reimbursement for unexpected expenses resulting from a change in the water table at the construction site for the Glenwood Activities Complex during the 2019 flooding event.
Grassley said the FEMA concerns discussed in Glenwood were similar to those he heard earlier in the day at a meeting in Sidney and all appear to involve FEMA’s regional office in Kansas City. He said the concerns would be “boiled down to one issue” and shared with the FEMA director in Washington, D.C.
Grassley brought up the subject of China after Crouch, who is a farmer, asked the senator about grain market prices. Grassley said Iowa’s agricultural community needs China to be a significant trade partner, despite concerns people may have about the country’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and its effort to interfere in Hong Kong’s autonomy and impede on the rights of Hong Kong citizens.
“I think people are mixing up the trade with the virus, the World Health Organization and Hong Kong,” Grassley said.
“I’m irritated with China on all those, but we have to keep China buying from us.”
In response to a comment from Glenwood banker Larry Winum, who voiced concerns about the growing national debt, Grassley said he’s authored legislation in the Senate numerous times calling for a balanced budget amendment. He said more than 40 states have a balanced budget amendment in the constitution, including Iowa, and the federal government should have one as well.
“We have it in Iowa and I think it works,” Grassley said.
Mills County Economic Development Foundation Director Marco Floreani brought up the need for rural broadband, an issue that’s been magnified during the pandemic as many people have been telecommuting from their homes. Grassley concurred.
“The virus is very bad,” Grassley said, “but a couple good things came out of it dealing with broadband – one is telehealth and the other is distance learning. And, I guess you could say a third one – telecommuting. It’s brought great emphasis on the need for it and I think it’s really going to promote it.”
The CARES Act, 2020 presidential election and the lack of bipartisanship in Washington were three other issues discussed at the meeting.
“Partisanship is worse than it’s ever been, but it might not be as bad as you think it is,” Grassley said. “Whenever you’re fighting in Washington, it hits the news. If you’re getting along, you never read about it. Even though it’s bad, you get a distorted picture of how bad it is.”
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Grassley Shares Candid Views on COVID-19
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley didn’t mince words when asked what it’s going to take for the United States to start getting a better handle on containing the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“When people start wearing a mask and stay six feet away,” Grassley said during an interview with The Opinion-Tribune last Wednesday. “You know, you wear your mask to protect me. I wear my mask to protect you and it goes a long ways.”
Grassley was candid when asked to share his views on the coronavirus situation in the United States. The U.S. is the global leader in COVID-19 activity, accounting for about one-fourth of all COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide.
Grassley said there is no doubt many Americans are reluctant to follow Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and public health guidelines for preventing spread of the virus.
Grassley said there is no doubt many Americans are reluctant to follow Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and public health guidelines for preventing spread of the virus.
“Yes, for sure, and that’s a problem,” he said. “Particularly young people (who think) it isn’t going to affect them. Now, 50 percent of the people are below 35, whereas up until then, 90 percent were above 60 that would get it. Young people think they are safe and they aren’t safe.”
Grassley, the oldest Republican in the Senate at the age of 86, said closing drinking establishments is one of the measures he believes should be taken to help contain spread of the virus.
“Shutting down the bars is one of the best things you can do,” he said. “It’s not good for the barkeeper, but that’s what you’ve got to do, I think.”
“Shutting down the bars is one of the best things you can do,” he said. “It’s not good for the barkeeper, but that’s what you’ve got to do, I think.”
Grassley is aware that several countries in Europe, Asia and other areas have turned the corner in containing the virus. Many of the countries did so with immediate stay-at-home orders when the virus surfaced and implementing strict public safety requirements, like wearing facial coverings, when they reopened. Steps taken by political leaders in many of those countries wouldn’t be accepted in the U.S., Grassley said.
“I think Americans do not accept authoritarian leadership, like people will in other countries,” he said. “Even though most of Europe is a Democracy, they had centuries of experience with authoritarian and they’re willing to accept what the government tells you to do more.”
Grassley added that in the U.S., authority is divided between the federal government and individual states, which means you often don’t get a unified way to approach a situation like COVID-19.
Grassley gave a mixed review when asked to assess the Trump Administration’s handling of COVID-19. He said the president deserves credit for shutting down travel from China in late January, encouraging pharmaceutical companies to start working on vaccines, invoking the Defense Production Act in April to address supply chain issues and setting up a coronavirus task force.
“I think bringing in Dr. (Anthony) Fauci and Dr. (Deborah) Birx was the smartest thing he did,” Grassley said.
While Grassley said he thinks Trump has done a “pretty good job” overall dealing with the pandemic, he also believes the president has sent conflicting messages to the American public.
While Grassley said he thinks Trump has done a “pretty good job” overall dealing with the pandemic, he also believes the president has sent conflicting messages to the American public.
“The mistake he’s made, he’s suggested as a political leader, certain things like the malaria drug so everybody thinks he’s promoting it. He never said that you should take it, but it’s how he says things,” Grassley said. “When he’s talking about what you ought to do or not do, he sounds like he’s the authority. He needs to say, ‘I’m recommending you do this because that’s what guys over here in science and public health are saying we ought to do.’ And, he could wear a mask more often.”
Grassley offered praise for Gov. Kim Reynolds’ leadership during the pandemic.
“Those five weeks I was at home at the farm being isolated, I watched a lot of her news conferences,” he said.
“Probably, if I hadn’t watched her news conferences, I wouldn’t speak so forcefully about how well she handled it. She did an excellent job.”