Essential Estrogen

It was only last fall that Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, took an unpopular party stance against Pres. George W. Bush's domestic health care policy. Grassley took some hits on the Hill as a result of his stand, but one Iowa group wants him to know they appreciate his effort.

Iowa for Health Care met Grassley during a stop in Linn County on Tuesday to thank him for his "leadership on positive health care reform" and to ask him to continue to fight for the issue.

Grassley not only voted in 2007 to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover nearly 4 million more uninsured children throughout the nation -- a figure that included thousands in Iowa -- but took a notably activist stance, circumventing House Republican leadership, to recruit rank-and-file Republicans to rally against the wishes of the White House.

"It makes no sense to negotiate with members who are trying to kill the bill," Grassley explained on the Senate floor when describing his actions in relation to SCHIP. He went on to call Republican criticisms of the legislation "a very sad mischaracterization of the bill."

"Sen. Grassley took the moral stance on the SCHIP issue," said Mary Sclichte. "Not only did he vote for the bill's greatest expansion, he openly supported it. He stood up for what was right, and that means a lot to the people of Iowa."

This year Grassley has co-sponsored the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act, a bill that seeks to improve nursing home care by providing transparency, accountability and enforcement.

Iowa for Health Care represents 32,000 members and is a part of Americans for Health Care, the largest grassroots health care reform organization in the country and a project of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The group also plans to visit with Grassley during his stops in Scott and Cedar counties on Thursday.