President Donald Trump Archives

Albright: from Waynesville resident to first female U.S. Secretary of State

September 20, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The nation’s first female Secretary of State spent time Thursday in Fulton recounting her journey from a newspaper reporter in Rolla to the nation’s highest diplomatic post.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lectures at Westminster College in Fulton on September 19, 2019 (photo courtesy of Westminster Twitter page)

But the biggest part of Madeleine Albright’s speech was her warning that democracy “appears to be in retreat”, and her criticism of President Donald Trump (R).

Dr. Albright, who served as Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton (D) from 1997-2001, spoke to a capacity crowd of more than 1,500 at historic Westminster College. She tells the audience that President Trump “has become a source of comfort to anti-democratic forces across the globe.”

“The president has picked fights with Europe over trade, climate change, Iran and NATO instead of rallying our democratic allies to push back against Russia and compete together against China,” Albright says.

She says President Trump “touts a world in which each country is only out for itself.”

“It is a world in which the strong strut, the weak submit, and people everywhere may be divided into patriots and subscribers to, and I quote, ‘the ideology of globalism,’ whatever that may be,” says Albright.

Dr. Albright is also warning about Russia, saying Vladimir Putin’s “clear intent” is to divide the transatlantic community and cause NATO to collapse from within.

She served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993-1997.

She also recapped her long career journey from a newspaper reporter in Rolla to becoming Secretary of State. Dr. Albright tells the audience she moved to southern Missouri’s Waynesville after college, where her husband was in the Army at Fort Leonard Wood.

Albright worked for the “Rolla Daily News”.

“Where I wrote obituaries and articles for the society page, reported on an occasional sports story, and even interviewed people who had seen a UFO,” Albright says, to audience laughter.

She also notes she sold classified ads in Rolla. She says her favorite read “Cemetery plot, owner must move, will sell at sacrifice.”

Westminster College is where former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946.

Previous Westminster Green Lecture speakers have included Presidents Harry Truman and Gerald Ford and Vice Presidents George H.W. Bush and Hubert Humphrey.

Missouri GOP congressman describes opioid epidemic as a “scourge”; supports PDMP

June 6, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(Reporter Bailey Strohl at Missourinet Springfield affiliate KSGF Radio contributed to this story)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- A congressman who represents southwest Missouri on Capitol Hill says a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is needed in the Show-Me State. U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, discussed the nation’s opioid crisis during a roundtable discussion this morning at Springfield’s Cox Medical Center South.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, speaks at a Springfield roundtable discussion about the opioid crisis on June 6, 2019 (photo courtesy of KSGF’s Bailey Strohl)

“No one doesn’t know someone that’s affected by it. I mean, it’s a scourge,” Long tells roundtable participants. “And so, that’s why we try and have get-togethers like this and find out what works and what doesn’t work.”

Congressman Long says the opioid crisis is killing people across the nation everyday.

“It’s killing 130 people a day in this country, I mean when I was growing up here in Springfield I never went home and my folks said so-and-so’s kid down the block died today,” says Long.

Cox officials are touting their new program that gives assistance and treatment to addicts who want to get clean. Cox officials also emphasize the need for a supervised short stay center to free up emergency rooms.

Congressman Long met with health care professionals today, including nurses. He toured Cox South’s neonatal intensive care unit to see how CoxHealth is treating babies who have a condition called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, a condition caused by mothers who are addicted to opioids while pregnant.

“It is truly devastating to see the impact opioid addiction is having in our community. Touring the neonatal intensive care unit and seeing babies affected by opioid addiction is heart-wrenching,” Long says.

Congressman Long notes that President Donald Trump has signed legislation into law called the SUPPORT the Patients and Communities Act, which establishes grants to combat the opioid epidemic.

He says CoxHealth has been awarded a $790,000 federal grant to expand rural telemedicine services such as substance abuse counseling and mental health treatment.

Cox South is located on what’s known as Springfield’s “Medical Mile.”

Long supports a statewide PDMP, which is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state. Long notes 49 other states have it, and that Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP.

“It’s an anomaly that we don’t have it,” says Long.

The Missouri House approved PDMP during the 2019 session, but the measure died in the Senate due to opposition from the Senate Conservative Caucus.

PDMP sponsor State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, tells Missourinet she intends to file the legislation again in January.

Major disaster declaration approved for 13 Missouri counties

May 20, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

Some Missouri communities, farmers and ranchers are breathing a sigh of relief. Governor Mike Parson says President Donald Trump has approved his major disaster declaration request in response to historic spring flooding this year. The governor’s April 24 request said $25 million in qualifying expenses had already been identified.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson is given an aerial tour of the flooding damage near northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph on March 15, 2019 (photo courtesy of the governor’s office)

The declaration makes federal assistance available for local governments and nonprofit agencies in 13 Missouri counties to recover from the storms and flooding. The aid can be used to repair damaged roads, bridges, and other public infrastructure, along with emergency response costs associated with the weather events.

On March 21, Parson declared a state of emergency due to worsening conditions along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers as a result of excessive rainfall, releases from upstream reservoirs, and snow melt.

“This disaster declaration means millions of dollars in vitally important federal reimbursements will be available for communities that are hurting because of damaged and destroyed roads, bridges, and other vitally important infrastructure,” Parson said in a press release. “I appreciate President Trump making the federal assistance available and all those who are already working to help our Missouri communities recover.”

The counties in the President’s Public Assistance disaster declaration include Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Carroll, Chariton, Holt, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Platte, Ray, and Ste. Genevieve.

U.S. Representative Sam Graves released a statement after the approval of the disaster declaration. Graves, a Republican from northern Missouri’s Tarkio, has a massive district that covers both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

“President Trump’s approval of public assistance is welcome news for Northwest Missouri counties impacted by the recent flooding and I’m grateful that we have gotten this disaster declaration. It will go a long way towards helping our communities as they rebuild damaged infrastructure and remove flood debris. I’m hopeful we’ll also hear soon on Missouri’s request for individual assistance so individuals devastated by this flooding can receive the help they need as well.”

The President’s declaration also makes available assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Program to prevent or reduce long-term risk to life and property due to natural hazards.

Parson said the state expects to request the Public Assistance disaster declaration to be expanded to include additional counties as joint teams can fully assess damage in other counties. The federal government is continuing to review Parson’s request for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance to individual residents in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt, and Platte counties.