Chuck Grassley answers questions on student loans, FBI, abortion at final 99 county stop

BEDFORD — A few dozen Iowans gathered in the Taylor County Historical Museum Tuesday afternoon to ask U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley questions on topics ranging from student loan debt forgiveness to the FBI and abortion.

Grassley, a Republican who is seeking reelection this year, answered their queries for about an hour at the town hall meeting. It was the final stop on his annual 99 county tour — a tradition he's kept for 42 years as a way to stay in touch with Iowans.

"There’s just a lot of things that you get from going out meeting people face to face," Grassley told reporters after the event. "It’s not the only way to do business, but it’s the best way to do business."

Grassley's Democratic opponent, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Franken, concluded his own 99 county tour on Saturday with a stop in Grassley's hometown of New Hartford, where he criticized the Republican.

"It is clear he has chosen his corporate donors over the common good, his personal ambitions and the whims of his party over citizens’ needs," Franken said.

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One of the first questions Grassley received at his Tuesday town hall was whether there was any way to stop the announcement President Joe Biden made last week that he would forgive up to $10,000 in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year. Pell Grant recipients are eligible for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness.

Grassley said it would be hard for a future Congress to pass a law requiring borrowers to repay that money to the federal government.

"I think you have to accept the fact that if there’s going to be any stop to it it might be a prospective court case," he said.

Several audience members raised concerns about political bias in the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. But when one woman raised the prospect of defunding investigations, or "witch hunts," by federal law enforcement, Grassley dismissed the idea.

"That would look silly for Chuck Grassley to defund the FBI because I’ve been telling these law enforcement people that have been attending my meetings, 'I want you to know I’m not for defunding the police,'" Grassley said.

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Grassley also deflected a question from an audience member about the possibility of Republicans passing a federal abortion ban if they retake Congress in this fall's midterm elections. He said this summer's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court left the issue with the states.

"Unless something happens either through court decisions or through action that Congress takes that’s where it is right now and that’s where it’ll stay and I believe it’s going to stay that way for a long time," he reiterated to reporters following the event. "But it’s just better to have elected people making those decisions than unelected judges."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chuck Grassley completes 99 county tour of Iowa with Bedford town hall