WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is releasing five videos, one every day this week, looking back at memorable moments from his annual 99 county meetings and how they have helped inform his work for Iowans. Grassley holds at least one question-and-answer session with Iowans in each of Iowa’s 99 counties annually, and has done so every year since he was elected to the United States Senate. This week, Grassley is holding meetings in 17 different counties. Today’s video details Grassley’s amendment to the 1986 budget resolution that froze President Reagan’s massive defense build-up and prevented the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars. The video can be found here and the text can be found below.
As a fiscal conservative and lifelong Iowa farmer, I bring frugal-minded sensibility to the dollars and cents of the federal ledger. From food stamps to elite weapons systems, Iowans work too hard for their money to write Washington a blank check. That’s why I keep a tight-fisted grip on the federal purse strings.
In my first Senate term in the early ‘80s, some in Washington considered me a bit wet behind the ears. They underestimated my effort to freeze government spending, including even the Pentagon. Thanks to a brave whistleblower, I got wind that greedy contractors were bilking the systemic incompetence at the Department of Defense. A civil servant named Chuck Spinney removed the blinders, exposing that the Pentagon knowingly underestimated the $1.5 trillion defense budget.
To get the camel’s nose under the tent, the big spenders at the Pentagon essentially fit ten pounds of manure in a five-pound sack. This senator wasn’t going to buy that. Not when taxpayers were getting soaked for wasteful spending on weapons systems and spare parts. The $7,000 coffee pot I remember and the $750 price tag on pliers didn’t fly with this penny-pinching Iowan and all Iowans together.
My constituents supported my battle to freeze the so-called 1984 Rose Garden agreement that put the defense spending on autopilot for at least seven to eight percent annually every year. The Grassley amendment to the 1986 budget resolution froze President Reagan’s massive defense build-up.
It was a historic first step to drain the swamp and reshape the perception among Republicans that the defense department is somehow a sacred cow for federal spending.
Iowans rightfully expect tax dollars to be spent as intended. That’s why Iowans give me the thumbs up to keep my thumb on the federal ledgers. Serving as a watchdog against waste, fraud and abuse is a job I’ve sunk my teeth into for nearly four decades. No matter if it’s a Republican or Democratic administration. And I’m not about to let go now.
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