1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

Iowa farmers don’t get advance warning before a tariff announcement crashes commodity prices. Iowa small business owners don’t get a tip before a policy shift wipes out their market. Iowa retirees don’t know when to move their savings before the next market freefall. But somebody does. And that somebody keeps making suspiciously well-timed trades. This is not a partisan accusation — it is a documented pattern. Just last week, Senators Warner and Schiff sent a formal letter to the SEC citing a surge in S&P 500 call options placed in the minutes before a tariff pause announcement, elevated trading ahead of statements on U.S.-Iran talks, and other trades that defy coincidence. Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly sold Trump Media stock just before the April 2025 tariff crash. The $200 fine under the current STOCK Act is not a deterrent — it is a joke. Senator Grassley, you are the President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate. You sit on the Senate Finance Committee. You serve as a Congressional Trade Advisor with direct access to trade policy information. You are, by every measure, one of the five most powerful people in Washington. You have the standing, the seniority, and the institutional authority to act on this. I am asking you to do exactly that. Here is what I am specifically requesting — and I am asking for a written response by April 25, 2026: 1. CO-SPONSOR S. 1498, the bipartisan Senate bill that would ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents from owning or trading individual stocks. This bill has already been reported out of committee. It needs Senate floor time. As President Pro Tempore, you have the influence to make that happen. Have you co-sponsored this bill? If not, why not? 2. REJECT the weaker House bill (H.R. 7008 / Stop Insider Trading Act) as an adequate substitute. Critics across the political spectrum call it riddled with loopholes. Iowans deserve the real thing, not window dressing. 3. USE YOUR COMMITTEE POSITION to formally call for an independent investigation into suspicious trades made in the 60 days surrounding major policy announcements since January 2025. The legal tools — the STOCK Act, SEC Rule 10b-5, federal securities law — already exist. What is missing is the political will to use them. 4. CLOSE THE PREDICTION MARKET LOOPHOLE. Traders are now profiting in real time from policy decisions through prediction markets with zero oversight. Bipartisan legislation to address this has already been introduced. Add your voice to it. This is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. Chip Roy of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are co-sponsors of the same bill. Josh Hawley has called out his own Republican colleagues on the Senate floor. The American people are united on this — and Iowans are watching. I will be sharing your response — or your non-response — publicly in my community and on social media. I expect to hear from you.