Senator Grassley makes annual stop in Humboldt

By PHIL MONSON
HUMBOLDT - Making his annual stop in Humboldt County last week, United States Senator Chuck Grassley, who is serving his eighth term, admitted his skepticism of the tariff wars President Donald Trump has engaged with other countries since taking office over the last two months.

Grassley, 91, and president pro tempore of the United States Senate, shared his thoughts on a number of topics during his stop on the afternoon of March 21, inside the Springvale Senior Living, which is connected to Humboldt County Memorial Hospital.

Grassley served as a congress-man from 1975 to 1981 prior to getting elected to the Senate in 1980. He served as a lawmaker at the state level from 1959 to 1975.

Grassley started off the session by stating he is optimistic lawmakers can finally pass a new, updated farm bill this year. He also talked about keeping prescription drug prices down.

“I’m very hopeful. I feel good and am optimistic that we can get one done this year,” Grassley said.

“Another thing I’m working on is prescription drug prices. It’s something I hear about from people all the time,” Grassley said. “I suppose there’s various ways you can attack it, but the way most people in the United States would like to attack it is to get ahold on the people who do business be-tween the pharmaceutical companies and you, the people who do business.”

“They are called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). They determine the rebates and the terms. There seems to be a lot of favoritism exhibited and the most important thing is that it is completely opaque. We want these negotiations in the open. With their influence, I think we have a perfect right to know exactly what their cut is,” Grassley said.

“It’s not only to protect you as a consumer, with hopefully lower prices, but also don’t forget that the federal government spends billions and billions of dollars on prescription drugs and we ought to do what we can to save the tax-payer their money. The best way to do it is to get more transparency in regard to what PBMs do. We don’t have enough accountability in a whole stream of things, from the people that make the pill to the people that put it into their mouth,” Grassley said.

Lifelong resident Bruce Watnem asked Grassley about the impact of tariffs on the farm bill and the farm economy.

“I have a lot to stay about it even if I can’t give you a definitive answer. The reason it is difficult for me to give you a definitive answer is because it (tariffs) just started and we don’t know the impact because it’s not fully implemented yet. I think somewhere down the road we’ll see more of what the impact will be,” Grassley said.

“In President Trump’s first term, he was able to do that in a way that didn’t increase inflation and unemployment in the United States. It’s a much bigger operation this time,” Grassley said.

“It seems to me it’s going to have some impact on inflation. We are already seeing where the people that make the product are absorbing the cost and then the dealer that sells the products in this country, he is going to pass on the cost to the consumer,” Grassley said. “I suppose there’s a thousand different ways that they can do that.”

“I think it would be wrong for me to say to you that it’s not going to have some impact on what you buy. I’d be surprised if it didn’t,” Grassley said. “Some products might have 100 percent pass through and with others, right now you are finding retailers of clothing and other products, trying to find a product in other places around the world that wouldn’t be affected by tariffs.”

To read the full story, check out this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent.