U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley Archives

Missouri’s Hawley: It’s time for the Coast Guard to act on duck boats (AUDIO/VIDEO)

May 28, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator says the deadly 2018 duck boat tragedy which killed 17 victims on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake should never have occurred.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crews assist the U.S. Coast Guard during the duck boat recovery efforts on July 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Twitter page)

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard after a similar 1999 tragedy in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

“If the Coast Guard had implemented the NTSB’s recommendations from the late 1990’s, almost 20 years ago now, 20 years from the time of the accident, then this (Table Rock Lake incident) would not have happened,” Hawley says.

The 1999 Arkansas incident killed 13 of the 21 passengers on board.

Senator Hawley has filed legislation that would require amphibious passenger vessels to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. His bill would also require additional life preservers, and would require duck boats to remove canopies. It also requires additional ways to pump water out.

Hawley, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says it’s time for the Coast Guard to act on the issue of duck boats. He says it’s critical to keeping Missourians and others safe.

“Over a year ago, I introduced legislation that would write these requirements and these protections into law,” says Hawley. “It is time for the Senate to act on that legislation, and I hope that they will.”

Hawley’s legislation is similar to one filed by former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D). Hawley unseated McCaskill in Missouri’s 2018 Senate election.

Hawley’s letter to Coast Guard Admiral Karl Schultz reads, in part: “It is in your power to ensure ‘duck boat’ is not synonymous with ‘floating metal death trap.’

17 victims died in the Table Rock Lake incident, including nine from one family. The victims drowned when the vessel sank quickly, during a storm.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, which was recorded on May 21, 2020:

Missouri’s Hawley: “The meatpacking industry has become too consolidated” (VIDEO/AUDIO)

May 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator says four companies process 85 percent of all beef in the United States, and he’s calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch an antitrust investigation into the meatpacking industry.

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

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) made his comments during a Wednesday interview with Missourinet, saying farmers need help. He says Missouri farmers and ranchers have approached him, especially in the last few months, saying they are desperate to have more options when it comes to selling their livestock.

“Right now the meatpacking industry has become too consolidated,” Hawley says. “We’ve got just one or two or three companies who control the whole thing.”

Hawley serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is the U.S. Senate’s chief oversight committee.

Hawley says four companies … Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS and Smithfield Foods … process 85 percent of all beef in the United States. He says Tyson, JBS and Smithfield control 63 percent of the nation’s pork processing.

He’s calling on the FTC to “ask probing questions” about the major meatpacking firms’ conduct, pricing and contracting.

Hawley is teaming up with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), in his call. Senators Hawley and Baldwin have written a two-page letter to the FTC, saying the closing of three pork plants due to COVID-19 has resulted “in the shutdown of a staggering 15 percent of America’s pork production.”

According to Hawley, consumers risk seeing shortages at grocery stores.

“It’s also bad for consumers, as we’re seeing now. Consumers being told in some places in our state and around the country that they can’t buy more than a certain amount of meat at the grocery store,” says Hawley.

He says the meatpacking industry is dominated by firms that have concentrated meat processing into fewer facilities.

“This market consolidation has led to the increased concentration of meat production in just a handful of plants,” the letter from Hawley and Baldwin reads. “For instance, over the last several decades, the number of slaughterhouses processing more than one million hogs annually has more than doubled: among those slaughterhouses processing more than 50,000 hogs every year, 90 percent are these ‘mega-slaughterhouses.’ Cattle slaughterhouses have also seen increased concentration, with the average number of cattle slaughtered per plant doubling between 1976 and 2006.”

Senators Hawley and Baldwin say the concentration has undermined the stability of America’s meat supply and is an issue of national security.

Click here to listen to the full five-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R):

Missouri GOP Congressman: COVID-19 outbreak is unlike anything we’ve ever seen (AUDIO)

March 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A northern Missouri congressman who’s a dean in the state’s congressional delegation says the $2 trillion economic stimulus package is aimed at helping America emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, represents 36 counties in northern Missouri (file photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, voted for the bill on Friday. He says the bill provides $350 billion to the Small Business Administration (SBA), to supply main street businesses with the capital they need to keep the lights on and their workers on the payroll.

“And as long as they (main street businesses) continue to keep them on the payroll through July 2, then that becomes forgiven,” Graves says.

Governor Mike Parson has warned that thousands of Missourians will lose their jobs due to the outbreak. Congressman Graves says the stimulus boosts unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who’ve lost their jobs.

Graves represents 36 counties in northern Missouri. His sprawling district is larger than nine U.S. states, and includes St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Bethany, Kirksville and Hannibal.

Congressman Graves tells Missourinet that some hospitals in his district have struggled to get personal protective equipment (PPE), like masks. He notes the stimulus package also includes $117 billion in funding for hospitals and the Veterans Administration (VA) to care for patients and to protect health care employees battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Those of us who represent rural areas want to make sure that rural hospitals have every bit as much equipment as they need to combat this,” says Graves. “So far, they have not been overrun, but that could quickly, quickly change.”

Parson announced Monday afternoon that the state’s Strategic National Stockpile has now shipped 7,000 gloves and 3,300 cases of masks to hospitals, EMS and long-term care facilities.

State health officials say there are now 1,031 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Missouri, along with 13 deaths.

As for Graves, he says church groups and other organizations are grocery shopping for seniors in his district, to help the seniors limit their exposure during the COVID-19 outbreak. Graves’ district has a large elderly population.

“And that’s what rural Missouri is about and all of our rural areas. We take care of people and we take care of our neighbors and our family, and that’s very heartwarming,” Graves says.

Graves says the pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge for America, and that Americans have responded with unprecedented patriotism.

Graves and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) say the stimulus will also provide most American adults with $1,200 checks to help them make ends meet during the outbreak.

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 March 30, 2020:

Missouri to receive federal guidance this week on $13 million in coronavirus funding

March 16, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s budget director testified Sunday in Jefferson City that he expects federal guidance early this week on what the Show-Me State can spend its coronavirus funding on.

Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks during a marathon budget hearing on March 15, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Budget Director Dan Haug tells the House Budget Committee that Missouri is expected to receive at least $13 million in federal funding.

“Right now we do know that a portion of it (federal funding) will be passed through to the local health agencies,” Haug testifies. “We know that it can be used for for testing, laboratory services.”

Haug testified before the Budget Committee, during a marathon Sunday hearing that lasted into early Monday morning.

It’s rare for the House Budget Committee, or any legislative committee, to meet on a Sunday. House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, says the aim is for the full House to approve the state operating budget on Wednesday, with final House approval expected Thursday.

House members would then leave Jefferson City for their already-scheduled spring break, and the Missouri Capitol will be thoroughly cleaned at that time.

State health officials have confirmed Missouri’s fifth case of COVID-19, which is travel-related and involves a resident in southwest Missouri’s Greene County.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley tells Missourinet the federal funding will also go to more testing kits in Missouri.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, does not expect the state to have to tap into the “Rainy Day Fund” for the coronavirus. He notes the at least $13 million heading to the state is federal funding, part of an emergency $8.3 billion package signed this month by President Donald Trump.

“So we as a General Assembly are well-situated as we work through the process to be responsive to this, and we feel like the resources made available this time are a good start,” says Smith.

Lawmakers also learned Sunday that Governor Parson’s state of emergency declaration will also provide access to an additional $7 million, on top of the $13-million mark.

Hawley outlines details about the $9.9 million in coronavirus funding heading for Missouri (AUDIO)

March 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator says the $9.9 million the state will be receiving shortly in coronavirus funding will go to the front lines. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) says the money will go to state and local health officials.

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

“They’re really the ones both in our state and across the country, it’s local and state health officials who are at the front lines of fighting this virus,” Hawley says.

Hawley voted for the bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency funding package, which President Donald Trump signed on Friday. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) voted for it as well.

State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams testified this week before a joint legislative committee in Jefferson City, saying DHSS is developing guidelines about how the money will be spent.

DHSS has now tested 65 people for coronavirus: 64 patients have tested negative and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has now confirmed that one patient has tested positive. That case involves a college student who’s from the St. Louis suburb of Ladue.

Senator Hawley tells Missourinet that the state will be receiving more testing kits.

“There’s about a million testing kits around the country now,” says Hawley. “There’s going to be four million testing kits available here in just a few more days nationwide and that number will just continue to multiply.”

Hawley says he’s in daily contact with DHSS officials, regarding the coronavirus.

“I get an update everyday on the number of people who are being monitored in Missouri for coronavirus, on the number of people who are being tested and also any requests for resources from local and state officials,” Hawley says.

DHSS has established a statewide public hotline for Missouri citizens or providers who need guidance or information about coronavirus. The number is 1-877-435-8411, and is operated by medical professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Click here to listen to the full four-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, which was recorded on March 11, 2020:

Missouri’s Hawley: “We have allowed our medical supply chain to be compromised” (AUDIO)

March 5, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator is demanding answers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the coronavirus and its potential impact on drug and medical devices.

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

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), who serves on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, spoke to Missourinet this week about a bill he’s filed. It’s aimed at securing the U.S. medical product supply chain.

“The bill would secure our medical supply chain for key antibiotics and medical devices that are made now unfortunately in China,” Hawley says. “And the truth is that we have allowed our medical supply chain to be compromised.”

Hawley tells Missourinet that his “Medical Supply Chain Security Act” is aimed at ensuring that Americans have uninterrupted access to life-saving drugs and medical devices. He says the coronavirus outbreak in China highlights severe weaknesses in our medical supply chain.

“And in the long run, we need to not only secure that supply chain, we’ve got to bring it back,” says Hawley. “We need it back here in the United States, and this bill would be a step forward.”

Senator Hawley has written a letter to the FDA, saying the degree to which some American manufacturers rely on China to produce life-saving medications is inexcusable.

Hawley says the outbreak has threatened the domestic supply of about 150 prescription drugs, some of which don’t have alternatives on the market. He wants FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn to testify.

President Donald Trump declared a public health emergency for the coronavirus, and Congress this week approved $8.3 billion in emergency funding to assist both federal and state governments with the disease. About $4 billion of that funding will go toward making diagnostic tests more broadly available.

Hawley’s colleague, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R), will be at the Jordan Valley Health Center in Springfield on Friday morning to update reporters about the congressional funding package.

Senator Blunt expects Missouri to receive at least $9.9 million. Blunt will be joined on Friday morning by Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield.

Click here to listen to the full five-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), which was recorded on March 4, 2020:

Galloway and Hawley blast each other over attorney general closeout audit

February 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s Democratic state auditor and the former GOP attorney general are blasting each other over a closeout audit that was released Thursday afternoon in Jefferson City.

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) briefs Capitol reporters about the Hawley closeout audit on February 6, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Auditor Galloway’s Twitter page)

The closeout audit of former Attorney General Josh Hawley’s (R) office found that consultants paid with Hawley state campaign funds interacted with and advised Attorney General office staff. The review said while coordination between campaign consultants and staff gave an appearance of impropriety, there are no clear violations of law.

The audit also found that former Attorney General Hawley used a state vehicle and state employee as a driver/security detail for some trips where the business purpose wasn’t documented.

State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) released the audit in her Statehouse office, which was packed with reporters. A stage was set up, to accommodate additional television crews that covered the briefing.

Mr. Hawley served as attorney general from January 2017 to January 2019, when he resigned after his U.S. Senate election. In a series of January tweets, Hawley accused Galloway’s office of using partisan Democratic staff. Galloway addressed the issue, with the Capitol Press Corps on Thursday.

“The unfair attacks by Senator Hawley were an attempt to deceive taxpayers about the nature of this audit,” Galloway says.

In his audit response, Hawley says Galloway audit team member Bobby Showers donated to then U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D) 2018 campaign and wrote recently that any senator who opposes removing President Trump from office “will go down in history as not fulfilling their oath to their country.”

Showers, who was overseeing the closeout audit of Hawley, was removed from that audit in January, due to what Galloway audit director Jon Halwes described as “the appearance of bias.” Halwes also testified that he had not found any indication of actual bias in the audit, when reviewing it.

Halwes testified on January 29, before the Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight, which held a hearing on the issue.

During Thursday’s press conference, Auditor Galloway reiterated what Halwes said, adding Showers simply had a different political opinion than Hawley.

During his January tweets, Hawley mentioned Showers and others. Galloway accuses Hawley of launching misinformation ahead of the audit’s release, knowing that she couldn’t respond until the audit was formally released.

“The abuse these dedicated employees and licensed CPA’s (certified public accountants) had to endure is unacceptable,” Galloway tells Capitol reporters.

Galloway says her staff members performed the audit in adherence to professional audit standards. She also says her office experienced “roadblocks and threats” from current Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s (R) office. Schmitt’s office responded by saying the auditor’s claims “are ridiculous and unfounded.”

Galloway says Schmitt’s office challenged her authority to perform the closeout audit.

Hawley accuses Galloway’s office of altering the audit, to make it more critical. He is especially critical of an e-mail from auditor Pam Allison, which used the term “beef up.”

The Missouri auditor’s employee who used the term “beef up” when referring to the closeout audit says her term meant that she would add more detail to the audit. Allison spoke at the press conference with Galloway, telling reporters she grew up on a Polk County family farm, where you send cattle to the feedlot to be finished.

“This inadvertently sent e-mail was not evidence of a lack of objectivity, rather it was evidence that we were appropriately evaluating audit evidence,” says Allison.

The email from Allison read: “I’m thinking I’ll just drop the confidentiality paragraph in the (closeout audit) report and beef up the personal email/personal calendar section.” She says the report was a work in progress at the time, and that more details needed to be added.

The closeout audit concluded that AG Hawley’s office did not always follow communication and retention policies, and that the use of personal text and email to communicate official business was a violation of Attorney General Office (AGO) policy.

Senator Hawley’s written response to the audit describes the audit changes by Allison as “deeply inappropriate, unethical and potentially a violation of state law.”

In a tweet Thursday after the audit was released, Senator Hawley also said: “You (Auditor Galloway) should also come clean to investigators about putting political operatives on state payroll and manipulating audits to help your campaign for governor.”

Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jean Evans has also issued a statement, calling for an investigation into Galloway’s audit. Evans accuses Galloway of abusing her office for politics.

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:

Battleship USS Missouri crew members from 1945 being sought (AUDIO)

June 17, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The presiding commissioner in mid-Missouri’s Cole County is searching for living crew members of the battleship USS Missouri, who were on the ship during the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in September 1945.

This is a first day of issuance (FDOI) cancellation envelope being held on the deck of the USS Missouri in Hawaii on June 11, 2019 (photo courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service)

Commissioner Sam Bushman tells Missourinet a major event is planned for September 2020 at Pearl Harbor, to celebrate the surrender’s 75th anniversary.

“If we can find them, we would like to take them to Pearl Harbor as our guests,” Bushman says. “Everything would be (covered), airfare, hotel and everything.”

Mr. Bushman is involved with the USS Missouri Memorial Association, which is helping to organize the event.

He’s asking anyone who knows of living veterans who were on the ship for the surrender to contact him at the Cole County Courthouse. His phone number is (573) 634-9113.

“There were thousands of sailors present in Tokyo Bay on September 2 (1945). They weren’t necessarily on the battleship Missouri,” says Bushman.

Bushman tells Missourinet that U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley are both expected to attend next September’s Pearl Harbor event.

General Douglas MacArthur was on the battleship Missouri during the September 1945 surrender. At the ceremony’s conclusion, General MacArthur delivered a radio address to the American people.

“Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death — the seas only commerce men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed,” MacArthur’s speech began.

Commissioner Bushman is praising the U.S. Postal Service’s new stamp, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the battleship Missouri’s commissioning.

Mr. Bushman helped organize last week’s Statehouse ceremony in Jefferson City to unveil the stamp. He watched as veterans wiped tears away, during the ceremony.

“I mean this is our ship, you know it’s the battleship Missouri, it’s part of our state,” Bushman says.

There were two ceremonies on Tuesday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the commissioning and the new stamp: one in Jefferson City and the other at Pearl Harbor.

Retired U.S. Navy Captain David Durbin says the stamp has already been very popular in Jefferson City, with the Post Office re-ordering additional stamps due to demand.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman, which was recorded on June 11, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City: