Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and a leading voice in the criminal justice reform effort in Congress. In 2015, Grassley led a bipartisan initiative to craft comprehensive legislation that would unlock new opportunities for low-level, non-violent drug offenders, preserve critical crime-fighting tools for law enforcement and save taxpayer dollars. The proposal, titled the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, would also reduce recidivism by shortening sentences for qualifying inmates and help prepare them to re-enter society. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee with broad bipartisan support and was endorsed by more than a third of the Senate.

This Congress, Grassley and his colleagues are working to build on the broad support for comprehensive criminal justice reform through collaboration with law enforcement, advocacy organizations and others in government.

Grassley’s leadership in other areas of justice reform includes his bill to improve protections for minors who encounter the criminal justice system and improve accountability of a federal juvenile justice grant program. This bill unanimously passed the Senate this summer. Grassley has also advocated for greater oversight of civil asset forfeiture practices and the federal government’s adoption of assets seized by state and local law enforcement.

Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1980 and is also a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the Senate Committee on the Budget, the Senate Committee on Finance and the Joint Tax Committee. Grassley also operates a family farm in New Hartford, Iowa.