PARTICIPANTS
Kathy Nuebel Kovarik
Kathy works for Iowa‘s Senator Chuck Grassley, an early cosponsor of the DREAM Act, which is how we met her in 2002. Kathy had learned about the DREAM Act through Sen. Hatch‘s staffer, Dustin Pead-- she thought it was a good idea and convinced her boss to cosponsor it. When Sen. Grassley started getting beat up for it back home, Kathy did what any good staffer would do and came up with ways to provide some political cover. One of her solutions was the grants v loans amendment which became such a point of contention in our film.
Kathy has worked for Senator Grassley since 1998. She grew up in Iowa, but went to work in Washington as soon as she graduated from college at Denison University. Kathy is still a staffer for Sen. Grassley, in addition to immigration policy she handles financial services, public health, and appropriations. Kathy has a well deserved reputation as a tough negotiator, and even though she isn‘t an immigration attorney she has learned what policies will fly politically. Other staffers consider her a very valuable ally.
One very unusual thing about Kathy is that she is married to another Grassley staffer. In fact their desks are right next to each other! As much as she loves her job on the Hill, Kathy hopes to make it back to the Midwest one day to be closer to family.
