MUSCATINE, Iowa - Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he did not set out to champion manufacturing legislation.

"A certain bug bites you and you vote in a certain way because it's the common sense thing to do," he said Thursday.

Saul Solomon, president of Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions, presented Grassley with the National Association of Manufacturers Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence during an Association conference the company hosted at its Bandag Learning Center in Muscatine.

"That's a lot of words, but it's really a cool award," Solomon said.

The award honors House and Senate lawmakers whose voting record indicates a 70 percent or better support of manufacturing. According to a statement from the Association, Grassley's record is an "excellent 85 percent."

"I consider this just a part of my job," Grassley said.

He said it is also his job to know what products his constituents are manufacturing, and in what they are investing their money.

After the award presentation and a brief town hall meeting with Association members where Grassley answered questions about labor, the economy and Iraq, the senator from New Hartford toured Bandag's tire retreading facilities.

"We're pretty proud of our Bandag retreading facility," said Bill Block, manager of branding and advertising. "It involves technology and making people more productive."

Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions, which is a division of Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, was started in Muscatine more than 50 years ago by Roy Carver and became a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of retread truck tires. It was acquired by Bridgestone in June 2007 for $1.05 billion.

Iowa companies and their workers have a proven productivity and quality that "we don't brag about enough," Grassley said.

"What you folks have done is make my job to sell Iowa very easy.