Grassley: 'Braley and I have never had a controversy as far as I know'

Washington, D.C. - Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said today that he hears a lot of complaints about partisanship in Congress, but he believes there are close working relationships within the Iowa delegation.

"There's a lot of Republicans from the same state that don't have this same sort of working relationship," Grassley told the 200 Iowans in Washington, D.C. for the Greater Des Moines Partnership's three-day annual lobbying trip.

Grassley said he and Sen. Tom Harkin stand out because even though they don't agree on everything, they can work well together and cooperate on things such as judicial appointments.

"Even though there's been a recent controversy over something about Congressman (Bruce) Braley, you know, Congressman Braley and I have never had a controversy as far as I know," Grassley said. "And so from that standpoint I think that you get a bad impression of partisanship in Washington.

"And you know why? I'm not just saying this about The Des Moines Register. You can say this about any news media, that controversy make news. So if Sen. Harkin and I are getting along, you're not going to read about it in the newspaper."

GOP operatives in March discovered and released a video of Braley making remarks at a Texas fundraiser about Iowa farmers and Grassley. Braley later apologized to Iowans and to Grassley. Braley is running for Harkin's seat. Harkin is retiring in January.