U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay Archives

Missouri Congressman Clay focusing on gun violence, witness protection and jobs (AUDIO)

February 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s senior Democrat in Congress is seeking his 11th term on Capitol Hill. U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, traveled to Jefferson City earlier this week to file for re-election.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, traveled to Jefferson City on February 25, 2020 to file for re-election for his 11th term (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

Clay, who’s a dean in Missouri’s congressional delegation, chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance. He’s also a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Congressman Clay’s top priority in 2020 is combating gun violence in urban and suburban areas. He’s watching presidential candidates and others closely.

“What kind of firearm policies do you believe in, which firearm policies will you be promoting,” Clay says.

Clay represents St. Louis City and parts of St. Louis County in Congress. There were 194 homicides in St. Louis in 2019, including the shooting deaths of at least 13 children.

A recent study published by “USA Today” listed St. Louis as the 5th most dangerous city in America.

While Congressman Clay continues to support criminal justice reform, he’s also focused on crime victims and witnesses. He tells Missourinet he’s working with St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell to help them enhance a witness protection program.

“If it means that they need a budget item, a line-item, to actually protect these witnesses more, to maybe move them out of town, before a trial,” says Clay.

There have been teen witnesses to St. Louis homicides in recent years who have been killed, before they could testify.

That includes the highly-publicized “St. Louis murder mom” conspiracy case. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported this month that 23-year-old Tyrell Davidson was sentenced to 12 years in prison for second degree murder, for that case.

In exchange for that guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed first degree murder and witness tampering charges against Davidson.

Congressman Clay is calling for tougher criminal penalties for witness intimidation.

“And that would better protect these witnesses, will probably get them to come forward and to testify and to get these bad guys off the street,” Clay says.

This past weekend in Clay’s district, kindergartner David Birchfield III was shot to death when a gunman shot into his car. David, who was six, was killed. His nine-year-old sister was also shot.

Clay is also focused on economic development and jobs, including the NGA project, which he notes is the largest single federal government investment in St. Louis history.

“Welcome to a historic day at the corner of Jefferson and Cass,” Clay said at the November groundbreaking ceremony. It’s a $1.7 billion project.

Clay was first elected to Congress in 2000. He won re-election in 2018, beating Republican Robert Vroman with about 80 percent of the vote.

Northwoods Democrat Cori Bush has filed to challenge Clay in the Democratic primary. No Republicans have filed yet.

The last day to file is March 31.

Click here to listen to the full four-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, which was recorded on February 25, 2020 at the Kirkpatrick Building in Jefferson City:

Clay to host Census job fair Saturday in St. Louis

February 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Noting that the U.S. Census Bureau is short of workers, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and the bureau are hosting a job fair Saturday afternoon at Harris-Stowe State University.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, (left) speaks to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) at November’s NGA groundbreaking ceremony in St. Louis (November 2019 file photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

Congressman Clay, a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says the job fair is aimed at helping St. Louis get a complete count.

Saturday afternoon’s job fair is from 1-3 at Harris-Stowe, inside the William L. Clay Early Childhood Center on North Compton.

The Census Bureau conducts the Census every ten years. The Census determines federal funding and also determines congressional maps, with population shifts. The 2010 Census essentially eliminated then-U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan’s district.

Clay notes more than $650 million in federal funding is annually allocated by the census data.

The bureau is actively seeking to hire neighborhood workers, and the Census jobs pay more than $20 per hour.

Congressman Clay describes the positions as the “best part-time job in America.”

“Not only are you earning good money, you’re helping our community get its fair share of federal funding and political representation at all levels,” Clay says.

2020 Census job applicants must be at least 18, have a valid Social Security number, be a U.S. citizen, have a valid e-mail address and be able to speak and write in English.

They also must undergo fingerprinting and pass a criminal background check. They also need access to a computer with internet and an e-mail account.

Missouri Congressman Smith pleased with fentanyl vote and State of the Union Address (AUDIO)

February 13, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

An extension of bipartisan legislation involving fentanyl has been signed into law by President Trump. Supporters say the legislation will decrease the number of opioid-related deaths.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, (left) visits the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority in Scott City in January 2019 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Smith’s office)

Longtime Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley had been calling on Congress to approve the extension. The chief was a special guest of U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, at last week’s State of the Union Address in Washington.

“He (Chief Whiteley) is an individual that I rely on heavily for his advice, his expertise, because he’s been combating this for over two decades as the police chief there in Poplar Bluff, Missouri,” Smith says.

Congressman Smith voted for the extension. Poplar Bluff is located in southeast Missouri’s Butler County, which has seen 19 opioid-related deaths in the past two years.

Chief Whiteley tells Missourinet Cape Girardeau television partner KFVS that the majority of fentanyl and heroin in the Poplar Bluff area is coming from St. Louis.

As for the State of the Union Address, Congressman Smith says it’s one of the best speeches he’s heard the president deliver. Smith, who represents 30 southern Missouri counties, says America’s economy is booming and that the middle class is thriving. He credits President Trump for what he describes as America’s comeback.

“We have seven million new jobs that’s been created, 56,000 new jobs just in the state of Missouri under his presidency,” says Smith.

The White House says 11,000 of those new Missouri jobs involve manufacturing and that real median Missouri household incomes are up eight percent under the president, at $57,000.

Smith is the GOP Conference Secretary on Capitol Hill. His district includes Cape Girardeau, Kennett, Rolla and West Plains.

Not everyone in Missouri’s congressional delegation agrees with Smith.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, sees the economy differently. Clay, who’s a dean in Missouri’s congressional delegation, is critical of President Trump and his proposed budget, saying it includes a $182 billion cut to the federal food stamp program. It’s known as SNAP.

Congressman Clay says the president is not lifting people off food stamps, but is “kicking them off.” Clay describes the president’s budget as “an assault on working families.”

Congressman Smith also wants Congress to focus this year on lowering prescription drug costs and addressing the mental health crisis.

Smith is also pleased with another part of the State of the Union: President Trump awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to national talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who’s from Cape Girardeau.

Smith says it’s special for southeast Missourians, noting the award is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“His family lives in Cape Girardeau, his brother, his nephews, his cousins,” Smith says. “I mean, he’s from southeast Missouri.”

The 69-year-old Limbaugh announced last week that he’s starting treatment for lung cancer, saying he’s been diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease.

Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 2012.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, which was recorded on February 6, 2020:

Missouri’s Hawley wants to hear from Biden and Schiff, if Senate calls witnesses (AUDIO)

January 31, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The U.S. Senate is expected to hold an up-or-down vote Friday afternoon in Washington, on whether to call witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s official portrait (2020 photo courtesy of Senator Hawley’s office)

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke to Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd on Thursday about the impeachment trial, and about Friday’s big day on Capitol Hill.

Hawley opposes hearing testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton.

“I don’t see any reason to hear from John Bolton, my view is this: I don’t think we need to hear from any of these people,” Hawley says. “We already have all of the House’s evidence in the record before us, that includes 17 witnesses and their testimony from the House.”

Hawley will vote against calling witnesses, in Friday’s vote. However, he says if the Senate calls witnesses, he has motions ready to call former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son, Hunter.

“I’ve consistently said I think for months now that if the Senate does call witnesses, I absolutely want to hear from Hunter Biden. And not just Hunter Biden, I want to hear from Joe Biden, I think he’s absolutely relevant,” says Hawley.

Hawley also wants to hear from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, saying he wants to know what Schiff told the whistleblower.

Senate Democrats want to hear from Bolton, on the allegation that President Trump withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son.

Hawley says President Trump did not commit bribery nor extortion, adding that nothing Bolton says will change that.

As for Chairman Schiff, he tweeted late Thursday: “The President’s lawyers argue on the Senate floor that he can withhold aid, coerce an ally, and try to cheat in an election, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Our Founders would be aghast.”

Hawley also says the president has not been given the same rights that previous presidents have been given, in impeachment trials. He says President Trump was not given an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.

“And it’s the first impeachment of a president in our history that alleges zero criminal or unlawful conduct, zero,” Hawley says.

He says the president was not given the ability to participate in depositions.

Senator Hawley says the Senate will hear four hours of arguments on Friday, before the afternoon vote.

Hawley says the Senate has already heard more than 50 hours of arguments, and that he’s been taking notes in multiple notebooks. He says he’s looking forward to voting on Friday.

Missouri’s two U.S. Senators, Hawley and Roy Blunt, are Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, tweeted Thursday night with a hashtag #TrumpIsGuilty. Congressman Clay, who was elected in 2000, is one of the deans of Missouri’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, is the other.

Click here to listen to the full six-minute interview between Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd and U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, which was recorded on January 30, 2020:

U.S. House hearing spotlights Missouri abortion regulations, controversy

November 15, 2019 By Missourinet Contributor

During a hearing Thursday in Washington, D.C., Congressman Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said “Big Brother has come to Missouri” and Libertarians have suddenly become “the champions of Big Brother”. St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay, D-Missouri, who sits on the U.S. House Oversight Committee, put together a panel to testify about “State Efforts to Undermine Access to Reproductive Health Care.”

“I am truly amazed that the Missouri Department of Health went along with efforts to shut down the (St. Louis Planned Parenthood) clinic, intimidate patients and threaten providers, and would allegedly and bizarrely track women’s menstrual periods on spreadsheets to determine if they had had an abortion,” says Clay.

The clinic falls within Clay’s district.

The Missouri Administrative Commission is considering the state’s decision in June to reject the license renewal of the St. Louis Planned Parenthood. In an October press release, Missouri Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said he did not order state regulators to create a spreadsheet to track the menstrual cycles of Planned Parenthood patients. Williams said the workers took it upon themselves to make a spreadsheet with legally-obtained information to determine if the St. Louis clinic was accurately reporting any failed abortions.

Williams said the first time he saw the spreadsheet was during his October 17 deposition before the state commission. The statement says a rule that took effect decades ago requires providers to submit abortion reports to the state that include the last normal menstrual cycle of each patient who had an abortion at the clinic.

Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement that, regardless of the number of Planned Parenthood facilities in Missouri, every step should be taken to ensure the protection, safety, and well-being of women’s healthcare.

St. Louis Planned Parenthood Dr. Colleen McNicholas testified Thursday on Capitol Hill that the state health department is using what she calls bizarre tactics in trying to regulate her clinic—the only abortion center remaining in Missouri.

“They came to our clinic five times in the first five months of this year, all while they conceded that hospitals and surgery centers providing much riskier procedures went years without a single inspection,” she says. “During this year’s inspection process, the department also admitted to keeping a spreadsheet of my patients’ menstrual cycles. A brazen abuse of power and misuse of data motivated by an agenda to find something, anything that they could use to justify further scrutiny.”

McNicholas testified that abortions are mischaracterized for political reasons.

“It’s healthcare. So yes, unfortunate outcomes will happen for some people. But by and large, it is safer than a colonoscopy, (removing) wisdom teeth, and I will also say safer than carrying a pregnancy to term,” says McNicholas.

North Carolina Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx disagreed.

“There are many things we’ve heard that should make us shudder but comparing killing a baby to removing wisdom teeth is absolutely beyond the pale,” she says.

Jennifer Box – a St. Louis mother of three – who terminated her pregnancy after her fetus was to die in delivery or soon after—said politics had no place in her family’s pain.

“Our daughter, if not a stillborn, would be born into a life of immediate and repeated invasive medical intervention. She would essentially have been born onto life support,” said Box. “I never fathomed my governor would weaponize the Health Department in an attempt to end safe, legal abortion in Missouri. I did not anticipate that my state Legislature would enact an eight-week abortion ban – a ban that would have made it impossible for me to make the best decision for my family.”

Republican committee members did not agree, saying any abortion is immoral – and Planned Parenthood is only about abortion. Congresswoman Foxx said doctors cannot predict what happens because they are not God.

Box said the decision she and her husband made was painful.

“With broken hearts, we knew that the greatest act of love that we could undertake as her parents would be to suffer ourselves instead, to end the pregnancy, grant Libby peace and spare her tiny, broken body a short life full of pain,” says Box.

The Missouri Administrative Commission is not expected to issue a ruling on the Planned Parenthood abortion license controversy until at least February. Meanwhile, the clinic is still providing abortion services. It also offers a wide range of other reproductive health care services that the state has said is not part of this particular licensing predicament.

By Ashley Byrd and Alisa Nelson

Missouri’s Smith: Congress is not the answer to preventing mass shootings (AUDIO)

August 27, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A southern Missouri congressman who’s one of the top Republicans on Capitol Hill says communities are the answer to preventing mass shootings.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, speaks to a farmer at Peterson Farms in Mountain Grove on July 20, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Smith’s office)

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, spoke to Missourinet recently at the State Fair in Sedalia. We asked him what role, in any, Congress has in preventing mass shootings.

Smith tells Missourinet the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton are heartbreaking, adding that it’s heartbreaking any time a life is lost.

“Congress is not the answer, communities are the answer,” Smith says. “There’s a bad mental health problem out there.”

Smith says more people were killed in the United States in 2017 with hammers and clubs than by rifles, citing FBI statistics.

Smith, who represents 30 counties across south Missouri, is critical of some Democratic proposals, in response to the killings in El Paso and Dayton.

“You look at these two instances (El Paso and Dayton), they (suspects) both went through background checks. Assault weapons are banned. So the comment from members of Congress who say ‘let’s been ban assault weapons,’ they are banned,” says Smith.

Meantime, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, is calling on Congress to approve legislation that would give local governments the authority to pass their own gun regulations.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports 13 children have been killed in shootings in the city of St. Louis in 2019.

Congressman Clay has called an urgent town meeting for Wednesday evening at 6:30 at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, to discuss gun violence. Clay says St. Louis and the nation “have reached a tipping point,” as easy access to guns has created what he calls a public health emergency.

Clay will be joined at Harris-Stowe by St. Louis Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed, Alderman John Muhammad, St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards and others. The meeting is open to the public.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, which was recorded on August 15, 2019 at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia:

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:

St. Louis Congressman Clay: gun violence is a public health emergency

June 28, 2019 By Missourinet Contributor

(This story is written by Missourinet St. Louis contributor Jill Enders)

A dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation has filed legislation that would allow high crime cities to have stricter gun laws.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, briefs reporters at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on June 28, 2019 (Jill Enders photo)

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, unveiled the proposed legislation during a Friday morning press conference at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

“In St. Louis and across this nation…we are faced with an ugly, obscene, inescapable truth…gun violence is a public health emergency. I’ve introduced H.R. 3435, the Local Public Health and Safety Protection Act, because like you, I’m tired of the violence. I’m tired of the excuses. And I’m tired of our state legislature being either unable, or just too frightened, to do something about gun violence – because they’re being held hostage by the NRA.” Clay adds.

State gun laws are often the same for low crime rural areas as they are for higher crime urban areas. Clay’s legislation is an effort for cities such as St. Louis to tighten gun laws without the approval of state lawmakers.

State Rep. Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County, is blasting the bill, tweeting that Democrats are using gun control laws “to cover up the fact that they fail to support police and fail to control crime.”

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson joined Clay at the press conference, noting she grew up in northern Missouri’s Moberly.

“I understand the relationship that folks all over the state have with guns, but what is best for Moberly, Missouri isn’t necessarily what’s best for St. Louis,” says Krewson.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden took to social media on Wednesday, saying 18 people have been shot in four days in the Gateway City. Chief Hayden says 89 people have been murdered in St. Louis this year, up from 83 during the same period in 2018.

Under Congressman Clay’s proposed legislation, which he coauthored with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois), states could not prohibit or restrict a local government from:

· Requiring background checks for firearms purchases;
· Restricting the ability to carry a firearm in public places. Restricting the quantity and type of ammunition that an individual is allowed to purchase;
· Requiring gun owners to safely store their firearms, especially in households with children;
· And prohibiting the sale and transfer of certain types of especially deadly firearms and accessories, including semi-automatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines.