Senator Chuck Grassley stood amongst a crowded room and answered hard questions on Friday morning. No, he wasn’t in Washington D.C. with adults grilling him. In fact, adults were severely outnumbered as students with the Mt. Pleasant Community High School took the lead in talking to their senator.
One question saw a student ask about a package that was recently passed. This package is a series of four bills tied together, with the first three seeing 95 billion dollars in aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific. Grassley supported this in a bipartisan vote.
Multiple personal questions were asked, with one student asking Grassley, a senator for 44 years, why he became a senator in the first place. Responding, Grassley mentioned that he wanted to either teach government or participate in it, due to his parents talking about United States history. Another student asked about the most enjoyable part of his job. He told the room that he enjoys speaking to highschoolers and showing realism.
Grassley was forced to think back over decades of experience in Congress when he was asked what the most difficult vote he has had to make was. In 1991 or 1992, he responded, he voted no to the first Gulf War, which made him one of just two republican senators that opposed it.
Since 1981, Grassley has served with 7 different U.S. presidents, and a student asked who the best one was. The best during that time was Ronald Reagan, with Grassley providing an example of how the president handled the Cold War and tensions with the Soviet Union. However, his favorite president in his time was George W. Bush as he thought that he was very personable.
Internships in his office have been offered for many years, with 25-30 positions available throughout the year. For more information on that, head to Grassley.senate.gov.
