Letter: Grassley is part of Washington gridlock

Sen. Chuck Grassley always responds to my letters with 'Thank you for taking the time to contact me … it is important for me to hear from you.” A form letter follows. I wrote to him immediately when I heard of his hesitation to consider a nomination for Justice to the Supreme Court. It now appears he has already made up his mind. Has he indeed heard from and listened to his constituents?

There was a time when Sen. Grassley had the reputation of being independent minded. I respect his long service to Iowa. Unfortunately, he has become part of the gridlock in Washington.

For example, after working on a bipartisan committee to improve the health care system in our country, he turned to saying, 'We should not have a government program that determines that you are gonna pull the plug on grandma.” In January 2015, Sen. Grassley voted against an amendment that stated, 'Climate change is real and human activity significantly contributes to climate change.” This is at odds with the preponderance of scientific evidence. And now he wants to deny our president and our Senate the opportunity to consider a nomination for the Supreme Court, leaving a vacancy that will likely last over a year. He apparently prefers that to risk having the president nominate a qualified person that he could not justify blocking.

It is time to elect someone who will move us beyond entrenched politics.

Bruce R. Bachmann

Cedar Rapids