U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Archives

Lawmaker worries northern Missouri’s flooding in recent years could impact Census numbers (AUDIO)

October 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(This is the second part of Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series on the status of the 2020 Census in Missouri)

A state lawmaker from northwest Missouri’s Carrollton is worried that the 2020 Census may miss residents who’ve been impacted by Missouri River flooding in recent years.

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 13, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, represents the Missouri House on the state 2020 complete count committee. Her sprawling district stretches from near Lexington to Mendon.

“The people that have been affected by the many floods we’ve had in the last ten years have been upended and maybe in some other part of their city, their county, the state, that just simply didn’t get reached,” McGaugh says.

While she’s pleased Missouri is trending at 90 percent-plus census completion, she wants to make sure that all residents are counted.

She says residents in the Missouri River sugar tree bottoms area were displaced for about seven months. Representative McGaugh’s district has seen flooding annually in recent years.

“The (39th) district here is so large and so rural that it would be difficult for maybe one person or a team to really, really go door-to-door and find these people,” says McGaugh.

McGaugh’s district takes about two hours to get from one side to the other.

She is pleased that the U.S. Census Bureau will continue its count through the end of October. McGaugh lives in the district of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a district with 36 counties that is larger than nine states.

“I worry about his (Congressman Graves’) area, the whole top of the state of Missouri that might get left alone and not get the money that the Census brings in for the roads and the infrastructure and the schools. I don’t want them to be forgotten,” McGaugh says.

During the 1990s, northern Missouri had three congressional districts. They were represented by then-U.S. Reps. Pat Danner, D-Smithville, Harold Volkmer, D-Hannibal, and Ike Skelton, D-Lexington. Today, northern Missouri has one district (Graves), with one or two counties being represented by U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, and Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

That’s because of northern Missouri’s continued drop in population numbers.

The 2020 Census aims to count every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. The complete count committee is working to ensure an accurate count of everyone living in Missouri to secure federal funding and fair representation for Missourians during the next decade.

McGaugh praises Missouri 2020 complete count committee chair Karen Best, saying the former Branson mayor has done an excellent job. Former Mayor Best notes this year’s Census has been unprecedented, because of COVID-19.

Former Mayor Best says the committee’s goal is to submit a final report to the governor by November 30. McGaugh says she looks forward to helping with the final draft of the report to the governor.

McGaugh also emphasizes the effort has been bipartisan, saying it’s crucial that all residents in traditionally Democratic St. Louis and Kansas City are counted as well. She says it’s about ensuring that Missouri gets fair representation in the U.S. House.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, which was recorded on October 6, 2020:

USDA currently in “big hiring phase” in Kansas City (AUDIO)

August 28, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A top official at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the agency is making progress in relocating two major facilities to Kansas City: the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agricultural Policy.

USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, and USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce spoke to reporters on August 21, 2020 at the food bank in Columbia (photo courtesy of Brownfield’s Julie Harker)

USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach tells Missourinet the agency continues to transfer employees from Washington to Kansas City, those who chose to move.

“We’re also in a big hiring phase trying to get people on board and establish that in Kansas City,” Ibach says.

USDA’s relocation is expected to bring about 550 jobs to Kansas City, with average wages between $80,000 and $100,000. Mr. Ibach says the agency has established a “beautiful office” in Kansas City.

Ibach says it’s beneficial to have USDA employees who have roots in agriculture, adding that the move to Kansas City will benefit farmers and ranchers.

“It’s really exciting to be able to have the people that are analyzing the economics of agriculture be right here in the heartland of America, where agriculture is,” says Ibach.

Under Secretary Ibach spoke to Missourinet at a recent USDA event in mid-Missouri’s Columbia, to promote a federal program that’s addressing hunger needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event took place at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, where Ibach was joined by USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce and U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

The USDA relocation to Kansas City has been praised by members of Missouri’s congressional delegation in both parties, and well as by Governor Mike Parson (R) and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D).

U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, and Hartzler praise the move, saying it gets USDA closer to the farmers they serve.

Missouri’s largest general farm organization is also pleased with the relocation. Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurt says it will improve USDA’s customer service.

“You know within a day’s drive of their new headquarters (in Kansas City) will be most of the corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, cotton, I mean you think about the crops, pork, beef,” Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst said, in a 2019 interview with Missourinet.

The Kansas City area is also home to what is called the animal science corridor. The Kansas City Area Development Council says the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor is home to more than 300 animal health companies.

Click here to listen to USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach, who spoke to Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth on August 21, 2020 outside of the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia:

“It worked in Ferguson” — Sen. Blunt, Reps. Clay and Cleaver push for U.S. Attorney Gen. Barr to allow review of local police practices

June 4, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is urging U.S. Attorney General William Barr to allow the Justice Department to review the practices and training of local police departments in rooting out misconduct and implementing reforms.

This comes at the suggestion and support of Reps. Emanuel Cleaver from the Kansas City area and Lacy Clay of the St. Louis area.

They all agree that the Department of Justice in the past successfully used this process to address misconduct in local departments, including the Ferguson Police Department and the Baltimore Police Department. Review DOJ Ferguson Report.

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions abandoned the policy in 2018 and according to Blunt, it was not reinstated by Barr.

“Unfortunately, news reports indicate that the Department of Justice has walked away from pattern-or-practice reviews in recent years. Additionally, the Department of Justice implemented a policy change in November 2018 that placed tighter restrictions on the use of consent decrees, making it more difficult to pursue reforms where they are needed.,” Blunt says in his letter.

Blunt says this is not necessary in some cases but needs to be an option. He says the current response of the Justice Department and many local jurisdictions is to investigate one officer instead of the underlying practices.

“There are some situations that the best solution is the review of the department, and the patterns and the procedures and the practices of that department,” Blunt told Missourinet.

“I attribute the success in Ferguson and the atmospheric conditions there to the Justice Department’s patterns and practices report and then Ferguson entered into a consent decree with the Justice Department to correct those things,” Cleaver told Missourinet.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City

“As a result of those corrections, Ferguson is now a whole different town. It used to be one of the ‘sundown towns’ in Missouri, where you have to be out of there by the time the sun goes down. And here it is now with the first female mayor and the first African-American mayor all-in-one.”

Ella Jones was elected mayor of Ferguson Tuesday.

Blunt, Cleaver and Clay have also called on Barr to investigate the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department after four officers have been charged in the murder of George Floyd. The on-video death has prompted protests in every state in the country, as well as international rallies against racism.

Cleaver says this is the time to confront police practices and training.

“We may not get another chance to do this without really having some bad things happen on the streets of this country, that I don’t think anybody of goodwill wants to happen. There are people who would like to see a race war, we’ve heard people express that. And the fact that this could happen here shows us the fragility of where we are in this country as it relates to race,” Cleaver said.

Following is the full text of the Senator Blunt’s letter:

Dear Attorney General Barr,

In the wake of the recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Americans are rightfully demanding justice and accountability. To that end, I write to urge you to use your authority as the nation’s top law enforcement officer to root out misconduct in local police departments and to help restore trust between these departments and the communities they serve.

When the Department of Justice has reason to believe that local police departments have engaged in systemic misconduct that violates the Constitution or federal law, it has a proven track record of using pattern-or-practice reviews to investigate. If misconduct is established, the Department of Justice may act on that information by entering into a consent decree requiring court-enforced reforms.

Unfortunately, news reports indicate that the Department of Justice has walked away from pattern-or-practice reviews in recent years. Additionally, the Department of Justice implemented a policy change in November 2018 that placed tighter restrictions on the use of consent decrees, making it more difficult to pursue reforms where they are needed. I ask that you immediately resume the robust use of pattern-or-practice reviews and reinstate a policy that allows greater latitude for officials to enter into consent decrees.

Missouri provides an example of how valuable these tools can be. Following the unrest that occurred in response to the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Anthony Lamar Smith in the City of St. Louis, three St. Louis-area police departments underwent comprehensive reviews by the Department of Justice to examine police department practices and law enforcement responses to protests. The Department of Justice’s actions included a pattern-or-practice review of the Ferguson Police Department, which led to a consent decree to address unlawful police practices.

St. Louis-area law enforcement and community leaders have worked tirelessly to address community fear and anger since the civil unrest in 2014. There is more work to be done, but there is a foundation for continued progress that is built on a full accounting of past violations and detailed recommendations for reform.

I have seen firsthand how the federal government can play an important role in addressing failures in the local justice system, rebuilding trust in police departments, and restoring confidence in government institutions. I am not advocating for any action that would allow for federal control of local departments or place undue burdens on them. We need to be mindful of concerns about federal overreach that would be counterproductive to implementing needed reforms at the local level. However, these principles can coexist with policies that give the Department of Justice the ability to address injustice in full measure.

I appreciate your attention and consideration. Your leadership is indispensable as the federal government responds to unlawful actions across the nation and upholds justice and the rule of law.

Private, public clinics with few coronavirus tests must choose most at-risk

March 17, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says around April 1, the state will begin testing all Missourians who have a fever over 100.4 degrees and a cough. That will give more accurate numbers for who actually has the coronavirus.

Dr. Adam Wheeler of a mid-Missouri practice called Big Tree Medical Home says we only know the extreme cases right now and not the full scope of the coronavirus.

“Over 99 percent of people who have coronavirus have a fever and if you have a fever, you shouldn’t be going to work anyway, whether it be coronavirus or something else. So, we’d like to be a lot more precise than that and hopefully, eventually, we will be more precise than that. But at this time, that’s all we’ve got,” Wheeler says.

A private lab has stocked Wheeler with 20 test kits, and his clinic has 4,000 patients, which means tests are not administered to all patients with the symptoms.

“It’s going to depend on clinical judgment on a case by case basis, of course. In general, people who are low-risk and who don’t have a lot of exposures, testing is not going to help them much.”

The Kansas City Star reports Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver is frustrated with the few tests available at some Kansas City health clinics and the 10 kits available at the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center.

Wheeler, like many doctors and hospitals, gets his tests from a private lab and they cost him about 90 dollars each.

Big Tree has gone to what he calls Sonic-style appointments– that is, drive-up visits for tests, treatment, and medications he supplies at the clinic.

“We’ve been stocking up on the antibiotics to treat the inevitable post-viral infections. Most of the deaths that have occurred from coronavirus, about 85 percent, have happened due to the virus affecting the lung itself. But just like with any upper-respiratory-tract infection, we would expect to have post-viral pneumonias, ear infections, sinus infections, that kind of thing,” says Wheeler.

If patients are self-monitoring, Wheeler says the most common symptom is a fever.

“That’s a really big warning sign because in adults hardly anything gives you fever that’s not significant: influenza, now coronavirus, then other significant illnesses. Then there’s shortness of breath.”

Like many providers, Wheeler is doing many of his visits through telemedicine.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary heading to Kansas City on Friday; Graves praises relocation plan (AUDIO)

November 11, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman who represents 36 northern Missouri counties is praising USDA’s selection of Kansas City as the site for two major USDA facilities.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, farms in northwest Missouri’s Atchison County in October 2019 (photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a sixth-generation family farmer, says 90 percent of USDA employees are already outside of Washington. Graves’ sprawling district includes the northern Kansas City suburbs.

“The closer we can get USDA’s core or headquarter staff to agriculture, the better,” Graves says.

USDA will relocate its Economic Research Service (ERS) and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture Policy (NIFA) agencies to Pennsylvania Avenue in Kansas City.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will travel to the location on Friday morning to hold an event with Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Senator Roy Blunt, state Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Chris Chinn, state Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon and others.

Congressman Graves praises the relocation plan, saying it will decentralize USDA.

“When you put too many bureaucrats for an agency inside the Beltway, inside Washington D.C. where they’re not out there interacting with the very people that they are supposed to be serving, then you get into some serious problems,” says Graves.

He says USDA’s decision puts the agencies closer to constituencies.

Graves also predicts the decision will have a “ripple effect” two to three counties deep. He says the average wages for the approximately 550 positions are between $80,000 and $100,000.

“Buying homes, renting apartments, buying gas, buying groceries, buying new televisions, whatever the case may be,” Graves says.

He also emphasizes that the issue has been bipartisan, noting that he’s been working closely with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) has also praised the plan and the bipartisan regional efforts to land the jobs. Mayor Lucas notes Kansas City is an essential part of the animal health corridor.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, which was recorded on November 1, 2019:

USDA’s Kansas City decision praised by top Missouri Republicans and Democrats

October 31, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Members of Missouri’s congressional delegation in both parties are praising the decision by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to select Kansas City, Missouri as the site for two major USDA facilities.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City (September 2018 file photo courtesy of Congressman Cleaver’s office)

USDA announced its decision to relocate the facilities to the “greater Kansas City area” in June, but it wasn’t formally announced until Thursday that the office site would be on Pennsylvania Avenue in Kansas City. USDA is relocating its Economic Research Service (ERS) and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture Policy (NIFA) agencies.

USDA chose Kansas City over potential sites in North Carolina and Indiana.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, told Missourinet in June that the decision would bring about 550 jobs to the Kansas City region, with average wages between $80,000 and $100,000.

Pennsylvania Avenue is located in Congressman Cleaver’s district.

“I am pleased to welcome the U.S. Department of Agriculture offices of Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District. Together these institutions and their employees will bolster the agricultural research sector in the Greater Kansas City region to the benefit of the entire nation. A move like this is never easy on employees or their families; however, as the Congressional Representative from Kansas City, I can assure you that Kansas Citians stand ready to make your transition as seamless as possible. We are ecstatic to have you here, and we look forward to your commendable research continuing in the Show-Me State,” Cleaver said in a statement.

Governor Mike Parson and U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, both Republicans, also praise USDA’s decision, saying it puts the agencies closer to constituencies.

“I’ve been proud to advocate for the USDA move and finalizing the site selection marks a huge step forward,” Senator Blunt said in a statement. “Bringing these two important ag research agencies closer to the people they serve and the leading research institutions that support their mission is the right move.”

Blunt also praised the USDA decision, during an August interview with Missourinet at the State Fair in Sedalia.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) is also happy, and praises the bipartisan regional efforts to land the jobs. Mayor Lucas notes Kansas City is an essential part of the animal health corridor.

Parson and Cleaver to meet to discuss Missouri flooding and infrastructure issues

July 29, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor is reiterating his call for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to manage the Missouri River differently. Governor Mike Parson briefed Capitol reporters last week at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson talks with Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (left) and others in flooded Orrick in April 2019 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Cleaver’s office)

“And if it means more money through some of the states, we’ve met with other governors,” Parson says. “The governor of Nebraska, the governors of Iowa and Kansas and talked about that very same thing.”

Parson notes more than 80 Missouri levees have overtopped or breached in 2019.

“How can we maybe pool some resources together to try to help this management of the Missouri River on the Missouri side of it, similar to what we do on the Mississippi (River) side,” says Parson.

Meantime, Governor Parson (R) will be meeting with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, and western Missouri farmers on Tuesday to discuss flooding and other agricultural issues.

Parson will travel to the state Department of Conservation’s Burr Oak Woods Nature Center in Blue Springs to meet with Congressman Cleaver and the Fifth District Agriculture Advisory Committee. Blue Springs is a Kansas City suburb.

The governor has signed an executive order creating a flood recovery advisory working group. Parson says Missouri “has been plagued by record-level flooding this year.” Parson says the group will provide input on Missouri’s flood recovery priorities and will also give feedback on Missouri’s current levee system.

While tomorrow’s 10 a.m. meeting is closed, Governor Parson and Congressman Cleaver will brief reporters after the Blue Springs meeting.

During an interview at the 2018 Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Cleaver praised Parson’s emphasis on infrastructure.

“And then when he (Governor Parson) told me that he was going to put a list together of things that he wanted to do, and infrastructure was one of them, I said governor you and I are going to have a partnership. You can expect all the support you need from me,” Cleaver told Missourinet at the fair.

Cleaver’s district includes Kansas City and three rural western Missouri counties: Lafayette, Ray and Saline.

Missouri’s Hartzler says new I-70 Rocheport bridge is critical for travelers and truckers (AUDIO)

July 25, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A west-central Missouri congresswoman is praising an $81 million federal grant to replace the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge, saying it’s a prime example of communities and tax dollars working together to address a critical need.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews work on the I-70 Rocheport bridge (2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, whose district includes Rocheport, says the bridge is vital for motorists, truckers and farmers.

“This bridge is a corridor that connects the east and the west coasts of this country and certainly it connects St. Louis and Kansas City, population five million,” Hartzler says.

Hartzler tells Missourinet she met personally with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao about the project’s importance.

The Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general farm organization, says the federal grant is critical, saying the I-70 corridor is “badly in need of repair.” Hartzler, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, tells Missourinet more than 12 million vehicles cross the bridge annually, including three million trucks.

“And that equals to about 100 million tons of freight, which equals more than $154 billion annually so many trucks,” says Hartzler.

Rocheport is just west of Columbia. Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst says I-70 is critical to shipping Missouri’s agricultural goods to buyers across the world.

The current bridge is 59 years old, and the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says it’s in poor condition.

As for Congresswoman Hartzler, she emphasizes that the successful effort to land the grant was a bipartisan effort. Hartzler says U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, signed her letter backing the project.

“We stood up together as a Missouri (congressional) delegation and said this is important not only just for the fourth district but for the entire state of Missouri,” Hartzler says.

The grant will allow the existing bridge to be used during construction of the new six-lane bridge, avoiding projected three to eight-hour backups under a bridge rehabilitation.

While MoDOT will have to provide additional funding for the project, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet the state “will come up with the funds.”

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, which was recorded on July 22, 2019:

Schatz: Eight-hour backups on I-70 Rocheport bridge would have had “astronomical costs” (AUDIO)

July 22, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the aging I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport, a bridge that carries millions of vehicles annually.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews work on the I-70 Rocheport bridge (2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and Governor Mike Parson made the announcement Monday afternoon.

Parson says the funding will allow the existing bridge to be used during construction of the new bridge. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet motorists would have faced three to eight-hour backups without the grant, under a bridge rehabilitation.

“When you put the commerce that goes across I-70 basically in those types of traffic jams, you know seven, eight-hour traffic jams, the reality of what that really costs at the end of the day is astronomical,” Schatz says.

MoDOT says the 59-year-old bridge is in poor condition. The agency says more than 12 million vehicles cross the bridge annually. Pro Tem Schatz notes more than three million trucks cross it.

“Within 48 hours, there are trucks that are traveling across that bridge that are ending up somewhere within the lower 48 states in the United States,” says Schatz.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, agrees with Schatz, saying the new bridge will connect America’s east and west coasts. Hartzler’s sprawling district includes Rocheport.

The successful effort to land the $81 million grant has the strong, bipartisan support of Missouri’s congressional delegation. Hartzler tells Missourinet that U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, signed her letter in support of the project.

In Jefferson City, Pro Tem Schatz says the bipartisanship highlights the project’s importance.

“I think Senator Blunt, Senator (Josh) Hawley, going to bat for Missouri obviously making the case for how critical this is to our state, not only to our state but to the economy in general across the whole country,” Schatz says.

Governor Parson says the grant will allow the $240 million project to build a new six-lane I-70 Rocheport bridge near the current one, as well as reconstructing the nearby Route BB interchange. The governor expects construction of the new bridge to begin in 2021.

The grant will also mean $301 million in state bonding that is expected to repair or replace another 215 bridges across the state. Schatz sponsored that provision in the Senate.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 22, 2019:

Missouri native confirmed as HUD Assistant Secretary (AUDIO)

June 27, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The U.S. Senate has confirmed St. Louis native Seth Appleton as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Assistant Secretary.

St. Louis native Seth Appleton is now the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Assistant Secretary (2019 photo courtesy of HUD)

Mr. Appleton served as the chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, from 2009 to 2017. He describes Appleton as a workhorse.

“He’ll do a fantastic job,” Luetkemeyer says. “He’s interned with (former Missouri Senator) Jim Talent and worked for (Congressman) Sam Graves, so he’s got a lot of Missouri connections besides being from Missouri, but a very bright guy.”

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson says Appleton brings a data-driven approach to HUD’s mission.

Luetkemeyer says Appleton works well with lawmakers in both parties, saying that is critical in areas like affordable housing.

“He has a very even temperament which it takes to be able to work with both sides so he’s willing to sit down and find solutions,” says Luetkemeyer.

Congressman Luetkemeyer, the former chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, tells Missourinet that Appleton helped him pass one of the biggest pieces of bipartisan housing legislation in 25 years.

“It passed the House in unanimous fashion, passed the Senate in unanimous fashion and was a huge, huge bill that made lots and lots of changes and updates to HUD,” Luetkemeyer says.

Luetkemeyer notes Democratic President Barack Obama signed that bill into law, and that U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, was the subcommittee’s ranking Democrat at the time. Appleton also worked with Congressman Cleaver on the bill.

The law has 62 provisions.

As for the future, Luetkemeyer says affordable housing will be one of the most important issues Appleton will face, because it impacts both urban and rural America.

Appleton graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor of arts degree in history.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full five-minute interview with Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, which was recorded on June 25, 2019: