History Blog

On this year’s Independence Day, communities across the country are encouraged to participate in events for America250, a year-long celebration to mark our nation’s historic quarter millennial on July 4, 2026. Reflecting on American history will help us see where we’ve been, where we are today and where we’re headed.  Consider the stone-cold courage of the...

Since first being sworn into the U.S. Senate during the 97th Congress on Jan. 3, 1981, I’ve entered the rectangular, two-story chamber located on the north wing of the U.S. Capitol countless times to introduce legislation, deliver a speech or cast my vote on behalf of Iowans. It’s a privilege to represent my home state in the greatest deliberative body in...

After the bloodiest war in U.S. history, an enlisted soldier in the Union Army was assigned to recover war dead from Southern battlefields. Brevet Lt.-Col. Edmund B. Whitman mapped out an intricate system of “cemeterial districts” that formed the framework for our system of National Cemeteries. They provide a final resting place for fallen heroes and sacred...

One of the first orders of business for each new Congress is securing committee assignments. Lawmakers are assigned to committees to divide up the work. This allows members to dive into policy areas and conduct the people’s business, from the budget to taxes, health care, agriculture and more. I’ve served on the Senate Judiciary Committee since I was first...

Eight score and two years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act into federal law. The anti-fraud tool, enacted March 2, 1863, became known as Lincoln’s Law. Our 16th president embraced meatier measures to go after fraudsters bilking the U.S. Treasury during the Civil War. Contractors were selling inferior supplies to the Union Army,...

On Presidents Day, we celebrate the Father of America and his indelible mark on history.   Our nation’s first president was born near Popes Creek, Virginia, on February 11, 1731. That date might have some students of history scratching their heads. George Washington’s birthday is February 22. But, at the time of his birth, the colonies followed the Julian...

The U.S. Constitution enshrines the peaceful transfer of power every four years for an incoming administration to lead the executive branch of the federal government. At noon on Monday, January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump took the oath of office at the 60th presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. Until 1933, there was a four-month lag...

In addition to Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Day, Iowans have another reason to celebrate during the last week of the year. On December 28, 1846, President James K. Polk signed a bill admitting Iowa into the Union.   This year, Iowa will celebrate its 178th birthday. Let’s take a look back at when Iowa became the 29th state.  Iowa has always been a free...

November is National Adoption Month, an opportunity to celebrate the blessings of family amid this season of thanksgiving. Growing the family tree through adoption is a special experience. From family mealtimes, to the homework grind, chore schedules and summer vacations, adoption delivers a priceless gift of hope for children who crave a forever home and...

We celebrate National Farmers Day on October 12, during the height of harvest, to honor the men and women who feed and fuel the world. The dirt underneath my own fingernails, from our 4th generation corn and soybean farm in Northeast Iowa, represents the real-world perspective I bring to Washington’s policymaking tables. A lot of times, that means countering...

When I celebrated my birthday on September 17th growing up on our family farm, I didn’t know I shared the day with Uncle Sam. On that day in 1787, our nation’s founders signed America’s highest law of the land – the Constitution.   While I can’t attribute my interest in government to this coincidence, it nevertheless coincides with my efforts to foster civic...

In 1894, Congress passed legislation to make the first Monday in September a federal holiday honoring the American worker. In recent years, the three-day holiday weekend has marked the unofficial end of summer as families gear up for busy back-to-school routines, football season and the fall harvest in America’s Heartland.  President Grover Cleveland’s...

On August 10, 150 years ago, Herbert Clark Hoover was born in his family’s two-room cottage in West Branch, Iowa. Hoover’s parents were among the village’s early settlers, traveling by covered wagon in search of America’s promise on the prairie. As the only Iowan elected to the White House, Hoover helped put his birthplace on the map. He was elected by a...

Our nation’s founders recognized the merits of blowing the whistle on government wrongdoing. How do we know? On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress unanimously enacted whistleblower legislation, signaling for future generations that telling the truth is an act of patriotism. The Congress of 1778 wrote:   “It is the duty of all persons in the service of...

Americans this week will observe Independence Day. Growing up, it seemed like the Fourth of July packed a summer of activities into a single day. I looked forward to the annual parade in Cedar Falls and watched fireworks coming from Island Park on the bluff above the Cedar River.   The American flag waved prominently along the parade route and the entire...

This week, we celebrate Flag Day. Seventy-five years ago, Congress designated Flag Day to commemorate the Second Continental Congress adopting the flag resolution during the American Revolution on June 14, 1777: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field,...

Washington has a chronic budgeting problem.   Before 1974, the congressional budget process was akin to the Wild West. Each committee had free rein of the public purse. No topline number steered appropriators within a fiscal fence. Nothing kept authorizers from tying new mandatory programs to the taxpayers’ saddle.   The Congressional Budget Act of 1974...

By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Weeks before the spring warmth began thawing the soil, farmers across Iowa felt the itch to get in the fields. As a lifelong family farmer on our fourth-generation, Northeastern Iowa farm, I know how tempting it is to get a head start on spring planting. I also understand the realities farmers face to weather all kinds of...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress and the White House tackled what then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill had dubbed the third rail of politics: Social Security. That’s because those who spoke up about Social Security’s finances invariably learned the topic was political kryptonite. But President Ronald Reagan and Speaker O’Neill changed the...

During my first term in the U.S. Senate, Congress established Women’s History Week to recognize the role women play in our nation’s economy, culture and politics. Acknowledging their work, sacrifice, resilience and patriotism inspires future generations to pursue their dreams and strengthens the social fabric of America.    The joint resolution of Congress...