On this Independence Day, America celebrates 245 years since freedom-loving patriots put their lives on the line and declared America’s sovereignty from the British Crown.
The mid-summer celebration offers the perfect opportunity to take stock of America’s crown jewels – freedom, liberty and justice for all. As we gather with family and friends at the lake, backyard barbecues and campgrounds around the state, let’s reflect on what it means to live free and renew our commitment to never take liberty for granted.
From one generation to the next, Iowans have embraced the opportunity to dream big, work hard and achieve prosperity. In our pursuit of happiness, we’re endowed with inalienable rights. Americans have the freedom to start a business, own property, speak our minds and worship freely. We have the right to privacy, bear arms, petition the government for redress of grievances and due process under the law. Our system of representative government ensures the government works for the people, not the other way around.
I wake up every day grateful to live in America, the freest nation on Earth. As Iowa’s senior U.S. Senator, I’m working as hard as ever to uphold the founding principles of our republic. A government that is accountable to the citizens is the best guarantor of liberty. For 41 years in a row, I’ve held Q&As with Iowans in every county, at least once a year. By the end of this state work period, I’ll reach 85 of Iowa’s 99 counties. The feedback I get from Iowans informs my work on your behalf.
That’s why I’m doubling down on my work to reduce prescription drug prices while preserving the dynamism of the free market that leads to new and better drugs and to stop the Big Four meatpackers from taking advantage of cattle farmers and consumers. The $1,200 per head price spread between live cattle and boxed beef makes Iowa’s independent cattle producers and consumers feel like they’re getting milked by the packers.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the constitutional sovereignty of the 50 states offers an unfiltered view of our laboratories of democracy at work. States like Iowa, South Dakota and Florida chose a path paved with freedom that accelerated the ability for Iowans to get back to work and into the classroom safely.
We are at a political crossroads in history. Many of our biggest challenges are internal. Ideas from the far fringes of extremism are accepted by the majority leadership in the White House and Congress. Defunding the police. Pushing to register illegal immigrants to vote. Sending stimulus checks to those who broke our immigration laws to get into the United States. Packing the Supreme Court. Making D.C. the 51st state to give Democrats two more votes in the U.S. Senate. Requiring school curriculum to teach critical race theory. Allowing censorship on college campuses and Big Tech. Embracing cancel culture and political correctness. Creating a new death tax on capital gains that would give more of your life’s savings to the government after you die. Bundling social engineering programs into pandemic relief and infrastructure packages. This radical agenda divides Americans, weakening the social fabric that creates strong families and safe communities.
As fireworks light up the sky on this Fourth of July, remember a warning from President Ronald Reagan. “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”
God bless our troops and Happy Independence Day.
Senator Chuck Grassley’s Official Photograph
Since 1981, Senator Chuck Grassley represents Iowa in the United States Senate.
