Grassley toured County Materials Corporation in Iowa City as part of his Johnson County stop on his 99 County Tour.
Sen. Chuck Grassley expressed his support for the 2021 infrastructure bill, addressing economic concerns and impartiality during his Johnson County stop on his 99-county tour.
Grassley answered questions from employees at County Materials Corporation, which specializes in concrete pipe.
The 88-year-old senator donned a red hard hat and wore a neon safety vest over a shirt, tie and cardigan as plant managers showed him through the warehouse. Over the sound of machines working to mix cement and form the pipes, they explained the business to Grassley.
“After all these years, I’ve come to the conclusion that we Iowaans don’t brag enough,” Grassley said after learning about the history of Iowa’s cement pipes on Friday.
Jennifer Schaff, a technical resource engineer at County Materials Corporation, said many people don’t understand how the materials are made and the role they play in infrastructure. She said concrete is an ideal material because it’s heavy and more weather resistant than other materials.
“Often when there are a lot of big rain events,” Schaff said The Daily Iowan when it rained on Friday afternoon. “When we have lightweight piping materials, they tend to float, so they basically lift off under the weight of the water.”
In a question and answer session with employees, Schaff thanked Grassley for voting in favor of the vote Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Schaff tells the tue Funds provided from the legislation will go to projects that County Materials Corporation will work on. Grassley was the only Republican in Iowa’s delegation to vote in favor of the bill. Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne also voted yes.
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“I had to take some criticism for that because I was the only Republican in the voting delegation for it. If that doesn’t make sense to some of you Republicans, the only way I can explain it is that Trump has promised about the same amount of money for infrastructure for four years,” Grassley said. “…So I’ve got a chance, even though we have a Democratic president and I’m a Republican, I got a chance to vote for something that I’ve been telling people I’m going to vote for for four years, I’ve got to vote for.” voted.”
A staffer asked Grassley if there were more similarities between Republicans and Democrats than the public saw.
Grassley said Democrats have very different views on the role of government, but there is also a lot of bipartisan collaboration that is not highlighted. He gave examples of working with Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Criminal Justice Reform, Sen Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. on antitrust law and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. to lower drug prices.
However, Grassley had some criticisms of the Biden administration related to inflation. In addition to the impact of the pandemic on the economy, he blamed Biden’s energy policies for higher prices.
“We were energy independent and now we’re energy dependent,” he said.
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