Free Republic

Dear Friends, President Obama wanted three things on gun control -- to ban assault weapons, limit magazine sizes, and expand background checks. Fortunately, he lost on all three. I’ve always been confident if the Senate debated the Second Amendment, the Second Amendment would win. Yesterday, the Senate took up, debated, and voted on gun violence legislation. I am very pleased we had this debate, and was always ready and willing to vote in support of what I believe. Here’s how I voted yesterday: Voted Against the Manchin-Toomey Background Check Amendment (Failed 54-46, required 60 votes) No matter how well-intentioned, the...

If there were any doubts that the oft-used term ‘comprehensive immigration reform' is a stalking-horse for amnesty, a new Senate proposal should dispel them. The measure, touted as a way to fix our ‘broken' immigration system, will do the opposite. Not only will it demean U.S. citizenship and rule of law, it also likely will produce adverse economic effects. The main feature of the 844-page bill is that it would allow millions of illegal immigrants to apply for legal residency and eventual citizenship. Significantly, the bill bears a strong union influence. And labor officials aren't bashful about it. Ana Avendano,...

As President Barack Obama pulls out all the stops to push his gun control agenda, even using Air Force One to fly parents of Sandy Hook victims to lobby on Capitol Hill, the man who launched the first inquiry about Operation Fast and Furious more than two years ago may be poised to derail the president’s runaway train. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley is still working out the details of an alternative bill that, according to spokesperson Beth Levine, will emphasize mental health, protecting veterans from losing their gun rights, and improving school security. It will not erode Second Amendment rights...

The Republican members of the bipartisan Senate “Gang of Eight” have passed the deadline for Senate Judiciary Committee ranking GOP member Sen. Chuck Grassley’s request for a briefing on their coming immigration reform bill. Last week, Grassley (R-IA) and his conservative committee colleagues Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote to “Gang of Eight” senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), asking them to champion a transparent immigration reform process complete with thorough hearings examining each facet of any legislation those “Gang” Republicans and their Democratic counterparts develop....

The details of a gun control bill being written by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are now coming to light. As first reported by Politico, Grassley is crafting a Republican alternative to Democrats’ proposals, which are centered on expanding background checks, including information-sharing and record-keeping. In a follow-up piece this morning, Politico suggests that Grassley’s effort could draw moderates of both parties away from the Democrats’ main proposal. Previously Grassley’s office has declined to comment on the bill being authored, but in an interview today Press Secretary Beth Levine laid out the Iowa Republican’s legislative priorities. She said Grassley is considering...

While lawmakers in Olympia wrestle with a state universal background check measure, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today adopted on a 10-8 party line vote a similar measure that faces an uncertain future before the entire Senate. But Sen. Charles Grassley (R- Iowa) warned that this measure could ultimately lead to registration and even confiscation when anti-gunners realize background checks do not prevent violent crimes. In California, guns are already being confiscated from people who may live with someone who has been disqualified under a state law, according to a published report. His warning fell on the deaf ears of...

Mr. Chairman, what happened at Newtown shocked the entire nation. We will never forget where we were and how we reacted when we learned that 20 very young children and 6 adults were killed that day. I cannot imagine how anyone would commit such an evil act. And I cannot even begin to know what it would be like to be a relative of one of those slain children. We pray for the families who continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones. We pray for all victims of violence, gun or otherwise. This Committee and a Subcommittee have...

I heard Senator Charles Grassley on the Weekend Edition Sunday show of National Public Radio. I expected that he would buckle, and at least leave the door open for "universal background checks" as a way to appease the statists and move us toward universal gun registration. I was wrong. Senator Grassley surprised me by standing up to the MSM bullies. He did not say "we have to do *something*. He did not say "for the children*. He was smart. He did not fall for their implied assumptions that more unconstitutional infringements mean more safety. He was willing to look at...

Sen. Chuck Grassley, a conservative Republican from Iowa, suggested Friday he may be open to a limited form of gun control - restricting the size of gun magazines - if that legislation does not violate the Constitutional protection of gun rights. "I think that's a whole different issue and it can maybe be dealt with without violating the Second Amendment, but I want to see the legislation," Grassley told Iowa Public Television in an interview Friday. But he reaffirmed his opposition to reinstating the assault weapons ban that Congress passed in 1994. Asked if he would support limiting the capacity...

A copy of a letter received in the past hour by Gun Rights Examiner addressed to Eric Holder from Senator Chuck Grassley questions the attorney general about a leak on a gun trafficking case tied to the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation that resulted in the indictment of the husband of the then-head of the New Mexico U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division. The letter, sent on Wednesday, provides further details to a story related last Monday in this column, concerning Danny Burnett, married to federal prosecutor Paula Burnett, charged with leaking wiretap information to a suspect in an ATF gun...

Furious over the White House telling defense companies to ignore federal law requiring them to warn employees of possible layoffs from pending defense cuts, two key Republicans are demanding to know the legal rationale behind the guidance. Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire fired off a letter Monday night to Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, questioning the agency’s legal authority to make the promises, which they said could put taxpayers on the hook for “billions of dollars.” Mr. Zients‘ letter told private companies not only that they didn’t...

(CNSNews.com) - Kevin O’Reilly, a member of the White House National Security Staff who regularly communicated about Operation Fast and Furious with the Arizona-based ATF agent responsible for running the operation that allowed guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels, was suddenly transferred out of the White House and into Iraq in July 2011. The transfer took place shortly after the ATF agent O’Reilly had been communicating with testified about Fast and Furious in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the White House had provided the committee with a series of emails that O’Reilly and the agent had...

The rocket attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador to that country and three staff members should be treated “like an act of war,” Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday morning. “There ought to be serious implications,” the Iowa Republican said on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. “Particularly when you get a rocket attack, it’s an act of war and ought to be treated like an act of war.” Grassley also expressed his regret to the families of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other embassy staff who were killed in the assault on the American consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi....

(CNSNews.com) - The long-awaited inspector general's report on the Justice Department's botched gun-running scheme is finished, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on Wednesday. But along with that news comes more questions: Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding to know why a top ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious remains on paid leave from ATF -- while simultaneously drawing a six-figure salary from J.P. Morgan, a major investment bank.

Two weeks ago the mainstream and clean tech advocacy media proclaimed that taxpayer-subsidized, failing electric vehicle battery maker A123 Systems would be saved by a deal with a Chinese company. Since then the Massachusetts-based manufacturer’s stock price sank below what had been its previous low of 44 cents. This morning it is down to 38 cents, and yesterday the company received a delisting notice from the NASDAQ. So what happened? There could be several reasons why the recipient of hundreds of millions of U.S. stimulus dollars hasn’t impressed Wall Street with its pending bailout from Wanxiang Group. The deal is...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has started taking "bets" on its website over when Sen. Charles Grassley will die, after the Iowa Republican scolded the Department of Agriculture for advocating a vegetarian diet. The USDA drew the ire of rural state lawmakers over a newsletter urging department employees to embrace "Meatless Mondays." The USDA later retracted the newsletter and said it wasn't properly vetted, but Grassley vented on Twitter that he plans to "eat more meat on Monday to compensate for stupid USDA recommendation."

There has been an up-tic in Fast & Furious chatter - Mitt mentioned it on Fox & Friends this morning. Look for the Complaint to be filed maybe Thursday. Senator Grassley has asked whether U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. exercised independence when he declined to pursue criminal contempt without a “particularized description” of the withheld documents. Senator Grassley has also said that without this DOJ description, Mr. Machen “cannot reasonably make an intelligent judgment as to the validity of any privilege claim and his duty to present the citation to a grand jury." This is a set up for...

The Toyota sudden acceleration debacle may be a thing of the past, but one U.S. Senator thinks the government investigation is worth another look. Sen. Charles E. Grassley claims the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, along with NASA, may have let what he calls a “serious issue” fall through the cracks. In a letter sent to NHSTA administrator David Strickland, Grassley raised questions about the investigation, asking whether vehicles were tested for a very serious defect called “tin whiskers,” reports the Los Angeles Times. Tin whiskers, as described in a NASA report, are “electronically conductive, crystalline structures of tin that...

Article For Immediate Release July 3, 2012 Grassley asks for Justice Department records of field agent memo on Fast and Furious ATF agent describes discussion of operation one day before Justice Department denial WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today asked Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. for information about who at the Department of Justice (DOJ) saw a memo from a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) who was stationed at the Phoenix field division and was knowledgeable about Operation Fast and Furious.  This memo was produced the day before the Department of Justice...

In a letter Tuesday, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley pressed Attorney General Eric Holder for details about a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives memorandum that indicates his Department of Justice may have tried to cover up the gunwalking tactics that were at the heart of Operation Fast and Furious. Gary Styers, an ATF special agent in the Lubbock, Texas field office, wrote what Grassley described as a “Fast and Furious memorandum” on Feb. 3, 2011. In it, Styers described how two investigators for Grassley’s Senate Judiciary Committee office had contacted him the day before about the Fast and...