Capitol Hill Bean Soup with Chuck Grassley, then Representative from Iowa...

Back in 1978 -- when I worked for 10 months, two weeks, and ten hours for the University of Northern Iowa -- I traveled to Washington often to work with YouthWork, a private, intermediary firm between the U.S. Department of Labor and local governments with funds from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Youthork was headed by Corinne Reider, who is now Executive Director and Treasurer of the John Hartford Foundation, which is dedicated to improving health care for older Americans. The University also asked me to meet with various politicians when I was in Washington. That is how I met then-Representative Chuck Grassley from Iowa, who is now United States Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa.

Chuck Grassley is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was chairman of the Finance Committee from January to June 2001 and from January 2003 to December 2006, and he currently serves as the committee's Ranking Member. He is a graduate, with two degrees, from the University of Northern Iowa, which was the common thread that brought us together.

Chuck (yes, he preferred Chuck) took me to lunch at a restaurant in the Capitol Building. Its specialty is Capitol Hill Bean Soup, which I ordered and enjoyed. Before lunch even began, we launched into a debate about the role of dairy products in the Consumer Price Index, which was the subject of a New York Times front page article just several days before. To my great surprise, he was knowledgeable about the issue, understood the Consumer Price Index, and had a definite opinion that differed remarkably from mine about the weight of dairy products in the Index. We debated for about ten minutes. He was testing me, I think. He warmed considerable after that debate, as we talked about his farm, our families, and Iowa. It was a great meeting, after which we had this picture taken on the Capitol Building steps:

I know these "grip-and-grin" photos are stock items, but I did appreciate this momento of our meeting that this photo represents. We had a great time at the lunch so many years ago. I know, some of you might have issues with his voting record, but I think he has been honest and straightforward with his dealings. And, he usually chooses his positions based on his personal convictions and beliefs -- and he rarely wavers. There is something admirable about that.

I had some coffee, and I thought about all who are working hard to make our country great.