Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Senator Grassley, senior Senator from Iowa, serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, which is responsible for legislation dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and taxes. As Chairman, Senator Grassley was the main architect in the Senate of the Medicare prescription drug bill, which included landmark provisions for rural health care. Senator Grassley is a senior member of the Judiciary and Budget committees.

He is also a member of the Agriculture Committee and Joint Committee on Taxation and Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. Over the years, Senator Grassley has been responsible for numerous policy initiatives that have become law and expanded access to health care services for the elderly.

In 1984, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aging of the then-Labor and Human Resources Committee, he was responsible for updates to the Older Americans Act. In 1986, Senator Grassley sponsored changes to the False Claims Act that have today become the government's most effective tool against health care fraud. In 1997, he sponsored bipartisan legislation to extend the solvency of Social Security. In 1998, as Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Senator Grassley led an oversight effort which resulted in greater and more effective federal scrutiny of the quality of care in nursing homes.

In 2000, Senator Grassley got included in the Older Americans Act a new program to support family caregivers. In 2001, Senator Grassley was responsible for passage of tax measures to help working Americans save more for retirement. He has sponsored legislation to simplify and protect workers' pensions, lessen the tax burden on retirees and expand long-term care insurance coverage. Senator Grassley served in the Iowa House of Representatives for 16 years. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974 and to the U.S. Senate in 1980. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. He did Ph.D. work at the University of Iowa.

2005 White House Conference on Aging
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