Missourinet

Your source for Missouri News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Hartzler

Missouri’s Congressional delegation reacts to Obama’s State of the Union address

By

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill says she agrees with President Barack Obama that a lot of progress has been made to create millions of jobs and pull the economy out of the ditch, but says more needs to be done.

“There are an awful lot of commonsense ideas still sitting on the table that could build on that success, if elected leaders stop kowtowing to the political extremes and start working toward compromise to get things done,” she said. “Raising the minimum wage for working families, building innovative private-public partnerships to invest in our roads and bridges, making the tax code fairer, and fixing our broken immigration system aren’t partisan initiatives. They’re commonsense goals that we should all be ready to rally behind to strengthen America’s middle class families.”

McCaskill says she has worked with Republican colleagues to write the Federal Permitting Improvement Act, a measure she says cuts through federal red tape to expedite job-creating infrastructure projects. She has also joined with a bipartisan group of Senators, including Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, to introduce the Building and Renewing Infrastructure for Development and Growth in Employment (BRIDGE) Act, which would create a federal infrastructure bank to help finance infrastructure projects.

St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay, also a Democrat, says Obama laid out a bold, optimistic agenda that challenged us to reward hard work, renew economic security for middle-class families and keep faith with senior citizens.

“I strongly support the President’s call to raise the minimum wage; pass comprehensive immigration reform, renew the Voting Rights Act, continue expanding access to affordable healthcare for all, and eliminate barriers to higher education that are keeping millions from achieving their dreams,” Clay said. “He also laid out a clear path that would continue our nation’s remarkable progress towards achieving energy independence and creating millions of new jobs in the emerging 21st Century green economy. I am hopeful that Congress can build on recent bipartisan agreements to move this progressive agenda forward to benefit all Americans.”

Kansas City’s U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says the President’s message was one of opportunity, optimism, and action.

“This country was founded on the notion that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to succeed,” Cleaver said. “It’s past time to make that happen. It is absurd for Members of Congress to dig into political positions and refuse to work in a bipartisan manner. It’s time to stop digging — and start building.”

Republicans say it’s not members of Congress standing in the way of moving commonsense legislation, that it’s Obama himself. Sen. Roy Blunt says Obama’s message that he’s got a phone and a pen and he’s not afraid to use them is concerning. He says Obama should use his phone to call Senate leader Harry Reid and tell him to take up bills passed by the House that would move our economy forward.


Congressman Sam Graves agrees, saying Obama spoke about income inequality, but failed to mention his own role in making that gap wider.

“The House has been ready to work with the president on ways to strengthen the economy, help get people back to work, and lower energy costs for families,” Graves said. “We have passed bills to scrap federal regulations that hamper growth, make it easier for Americans to access job training programs, and approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The president and the Senate should work with us on these worthwhile initiatives – and a host of others.”

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer says Obama’s speech proves that he prefers class warfare and government hand-outs over “good old fashioned American ingenuity and hard work.”

“The president’s lip-service to cooperation in Congress was an insult simply because the Democratic Senate has continued to turn its back on bipartisan House-passed legislation that would help create jobs, reduce unemployment and create the conditions for economic growth,” Luetkemeyer said. ” The president did nothing more than lay out populist campaign themes that have more to do with the fortunes of his party this November and very little to do with the long-term future of America.”

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, Southwest Missouri, said if Obama’s proposals are worthwhile, he should be able to get Congress onboard.

“My colleagues and I will not rubberstamp an agenda that increases the reach of the government into our lives, increases spending and decreases liberty,” Long said. “We need a smaller, leaner government to help unleash the pent up economic growth that is vital to creating the jobs we need here at home.”
Southeast Missouri Congressman Jason Smith says Obama seems intent on over-regulation, and he needs to abandon his “my way or the highway approach.” Smith issued this video response to the President’s speech.

ACLU, Congressman Clay, PROMO say Supreme Court decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act is a historic victory for civil rights (AUDIO)

By

The American Civil Liberties Union says the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act is a historic move in the advancement of civil rights.

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri in St. Louis says the decision states very clearly that the federal government will no longer discriminate against lesbian and gay couples for unfair treatment under the law. ACLU executive director Jeffrey Mittman says the Supreme Court acknowledges that states that recognize the rights of two people who are in love to make a responsible commitment to one another should be granted those same rights under the federal government.

St. Louis area Congressman Lacy Clay says the decision is a historic turning point that advances full equality for all.

“The high court has affirmed that equal protection under the law applies to every American,” Clay says.

West Central Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler disagrees. She says marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that children need a mom and a dad.

“Today the Court got it wrong,” she says. “The activist ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act ignored the votes of a bipartisan majority of Congress. This alarming precedent disempowers Congress from making national policy with respect to marriage. We must work to defend the rights of Americans to make marriage policy. We should work to promote the truth of marriage between a man and a woman. It is wise public policy upholding the reality that every child needs a mom and a dad, and society benefits when they do.”

President Obama says he applauds the decision.

“This was discrimination enshrined in law,” Obama says. “It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it. We are a people who declared that we are all created equal – and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

“This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last, will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change for the better,” he says.

He says he’s directed the Attorney General to work with other members of his Cabinet to review all relevant federal statutes to ensure this decision, including its implications for Federal benefits and obligations, is implemented swiftly and smoothly.

 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says Defense Department officials will move forward in making benefits available to all military spouses.

“The Department will immediately begin the process of implementing the Supreme Court’s decision in consultation with the Department of Justice and other executive branch agencies,” Hagel says. “The Department of Defense intends to make the same benefits available to all military spouses — regardless of sexual orientation — as soon as possible. That is now the law, and it is the right thing to do. Every person who serves our nation in uniform stepped forward with courage and commitment. All that matters is their patriotism, their willingness to serve their country and their qualifications to do so. Today’s ruling helps ensure that all men and women who serve this country can be treated fairly and equally, with the full dignity and respect they so richly deserve.”

Obama adds that “when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.”

AUDIO: Jessica Machetta reports (1:06)