U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley Archives

Missouri’s Hawley says U.S. Senate has not acted on his duck boat legislation

July 31, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator is calling on his U.S. Senate colleagues on Capitol Hill to approve his legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the deadly 2018 duck boat tragedy on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake.

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)

17 people were killed in the incident, including nine from one family. The victims drowned when the vessel sank quickly, during a storm. The second anniversary of the tragedy was last week.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that the Senate has not acted on his bill.

“It is more vital today than ever. It would help prevent exactly the kind of tragedy that we saw on Table Rock Lake,” Hawley says.

Hawley’s legislation would require amphibious passenger vessels to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. The legislation would also require duck boats to remove canopies, and would require additional life preservers.

Hawley describes the legislation as tough and important.

“It would impose new security requirements on every single duck boat in our state and nationally. It would require new inspections, it would require new reporting efforts and standards, and put those in place,” says Hawley.

He says the tragedy never should have happened, because the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard after a similar 1999 tragedy in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) has introduced the same bill as Hawley. During last week’s second anniversary, he called for the bill’s passage.

“Today we remember the 17 victims who lost their lives in the duck boat tragedy at Table Rock Lake, and the loved ones who are missing them every day. We owe it to these families to do everything we can to make sure a tragedy like this one never happens again,” Senator Blunt’s statement reads, in part.

Missouri’s Sen. Hawley, Rep. Smith introduce “Military Right to Carry Act”

July 23, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley Congressman Jason Smith introduced twin legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives to allow active-duty military servicemembers to renew their concealed carry permits by mail when they are stationed outside of their home state.

The proposed law would also punish a state that does not participate by reducing its federal grant funding.

“This would cut through all of that red tape and allow active-duty service members to renew their concealed carry permit by mail,” Hawley told Missourinet. “They would be able to do that expeditiously. It protects their Second Amendment rights.”

Smith said he learned of the issue from a service member from southern Missouri who was stationed at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. After he tried renew a concealed carry permit, he was told by county officials he had to visit the office in person and be physically living in the state of Missouri to complete his renewal. Military members are often unable to travel back to their home state to take care of these types of personal matters.

Fort Leonard Wood breaks ground for new community hospital (AUDIO)

June 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A groundbreaking ceremony took place Monday afternoon at southern Missouri’s Fort Leonard Wood for a new army community hospital that will replace the aging one there.

This is an artist’s projection of the new 235,000 square foot Fort Leonard Wood hospital in southern Missouri. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 22, 2020. The project is expected to be done in 2024 (photo courtesy of Fort Leonard Wood’s public affairs office)

U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R) and Josh Hawley (R) helped to secure about $50 million in funding for the new hospital. Hawley also helped secure $5.9 million to modernize U.S. Air Force aircraft stationed at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base at northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph.

“These are big wins for the state of Missouri, big wins for Rosecrans, big wins for Leonard Wood, there’s wins for Whiteman (Air Force Base in Knob Noster) in there (a defense appropriations bill) and all of our military installations and military service members across the state,” Hawley says.

Construction of the new 235,000 square foot Fort Leonard Wood hospital is expected to be done in the fall of 2024, and the existing hospital will be demolished at that time.

The fort will build a 193,000 square-foot clinic, along with a five-bay ambulance garage, a helipad, a central utility plant, and emergency back-up generators.

The $295 million design-build contract has been awarded to Kansas City-based JE Dunn Construction.

Meantime, Senators Hawley and Blunt have also secured several million dollars in federal funding to support traumatic brain injury research at Fort Leonard Wood. Hawley, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, says that’s crucial.

“The medical facility at Fort Leonard Wood is critical because it serves not only the base but the surrounding community,” says Hawley. “There are doing tremendous work there, a new facility, it’s important that that get fully operational.”

Senator Blunt, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a statement via video, congratulating Fort Leonard Wood.

“We’re celebrating the care at the General Fort Leonard Wood Army Hospital, understanding it’s a community hospital as well. It’s among the best in the country. Despite the challenges of a totally outdated structure, the hospital has been ranked #1 in outpatient efficiency by the U.S. Army Medical Command,” Blunt says, in the video.

U.S. Defense Secretary Dr. Mark Esper traveled to Fort Leonard Wood on Thursday, where he met with leaders there and also conducted a re-enlistment ceremony where 53 soldiers recommitted their obligation to defend the U.S. Constitution.

Fort Leonard Wood trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The interview was recorded on June 17, 2020:

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.