Miller-Meeks shows more sense than Grassley

Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks have taken opposite positions on the bill to establish a 10-member, bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot. Miller-Meeks said, “we need to make sure something like this never happens again.” I couldn’t agree more. Which is why I’m surprised Grassley isn’t on board with this bill — it’s in the interest of all members of Congress, not to mention their staffers, the Capitol police, and all other employees who work in the building.

His reason doesn’t make sense. Grassley won’t support the bill because he suspects the Democrats will drag it out to make it a factor in the 2022 midterm election. In other words, his vote hinges on partisanship rather than the desire to discover and make use of facts for the good of all concerned. Grassley then said he would support the bill if it would also investigate the racial justice protests of last summer — which are not germane to the bill.

I don’t always agree with Miller-Meeks but I have to admit that, as a freshman House member, she’s showing more sense here than Grassley who’s in his seventh term in the Senate.

Joan Thorson

Cedar Rapids