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U.S. Rep. Hartzler visits Nevada
While some visits by area political leaders are billed as conversations, they often end up being monologues or at worse, lectures to the audience. However, the Monday noontime “Conversations with Vicky” lived up to its billing.
Held in the meeting room of Healthy Nevada, Hartzler spent about 40 minutes reviewing topics ranging from legislation adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and bills she has been involved with closely, to a series of topics raised by audience questions. The U.S. Representative from the Fourth District of Missouri then opened the session up to questions from the 20 people on hand.
“I know it’s been popular to say that Congress has done nothing but we are getting stuff done,” said Hartzler, quickly adding with a smile and a bit of pride in her voice, “With most of it on the House side.”
For recent years — since President George W. Bush — the House, since January, has passed a record 26 bills.
The representative provided six examples beginning with 14 bills which repeal regulations in such areas as coal mines and bank regulation. She spoke of her experience of a bank in Buffalo, Mo., which formerly had a five-page application for a home loan having to mushroom to 50 pages because of various regulatory requirements
“These commonsense reforms have saved 70,000 jobs and $86 billion,” said Hartzler.
In the House, a bill I sponsored was adopted by a vote of 418 to zero,” said the representative.
The timely bill, called the “Federal Emergency Management Relief Improvement Act” grew out of the negative experiences by Waynesville and Pulaski County with flooding in 2013 and again in 2015 and earlier this year.
“A disaster response team came in, looked around and told officials to fill out and send in some paperwork,” said Hartzler. “They did and all they got was crickets. All told, three teams came out and three sets of paperwork were filled out before they started to get help.”
Hartzler’s bill establishes a pilot program which assigns a staff member to oversee a disaster and serve as the point person from rescue through recovery.
Briefly addressing health care, she pointed out the House of Representatives having passed repeal and replacement legislation repeatedly.
“The problem is not so much the way a few senators voted; it’s the Senate’s rules,” said Hartzler. “You have to have 60 votes to take up a bill and 60 votes to end debate and take a vote. We, in the House, tell them to reform their rules but the U.S. Senate really respects tradition.”
She added, “But I think our colleagues will get something through.”
Hartzler spoke of being the only member of the Missouri congressional delegation on the agriculture committee and the 100 hearings already held in advance of completing the next five-year farm bill by the fall of 2018.
Surprising everyone with her next statement, the congresswoman spoke of her work on the House Armed Services Committee.
“Three-quarters of the Navy’s planes and one-half of the planes in the Air Force cannot fly,” said Hartzler.
She was referring to the lack of spare parts, being behind in maintenance and lack of key service personnel.
In a page distributed by her staff, she wrote, “I was able to get over 30 of my defense initiatives in the National Defense Authorization Act.”
These initiatives included funding for 22 F-18 Super Hornets to fill the Navy’s strike fighter shortfall and funding to modernize and maintain the B-2 bombers housed at Whiteman Air Force Base at Knob Knoster.
Hartzler is the House chair of the Values Action Coalition and she spoke of the amicus brief her group filed in the recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia [Mo.] Inc. v. [Carol S.] Comer, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
In its June decision, the court held that a DNR grant program for the purchase of scrap tire material for playgrounds had to be open to secular and religious groups if the materials used by faith based groups were open to secular use. Since Trinity Lutheran’s playground was open to non-members the court held the DNR had violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religious exercise which is known as the Free Exercise Clause.
An amicus curiae [literally, “friend of the court”] brief is filed by a person or group who is not a party in the case who but desires to assist the court by offering information which bears on the case. Whether the brief is admitted or not is up to the court.
Hartzler highlighted the passage of a law which forbids federal funding of abortion and her House-passed bill which creates grant opportunities for law enforcement “to conduct sting operations in order to go after the scumbags” behind sex trafficking.
Before concluding her presentation and asking for comments and questions by those present she reminded her audience of the growing U.S. economy as evidenced by “the million jobs created since January and the record breaking stock market.”
Gina Ensor of West Central Community Action Agency led off the questions by asking about the block grant programs which fund not only her agency but she said also help communities across the country.
Hartzler expressed her gratitude for the work of community action agencies across her district and as to the President’s budget which abolished these, she said, “I don’t hear support in the house for doing away with block grants. After all, we’re looking at making Medicaid block granted to the states. Our goal in Washington is to give them [states and others] more local control.”
Carol Branham, director of Nevada Public Housing, asked for help with rules requiring residents to sign a no-smoking amendment to their contracts and the difficulties this has created for some of the elderly residents who want to smoke.
Hartzler affirmed the harms of smoking and of over-regulation.
Traci Cliffman, owner of Kitchen Essentials in Nevada, spoke about the need to support small business.
Hartzler spoke of people shopping locally for an appliance, finding one they like, getting the model number and buying online instead of locally.
“Collecting sales taxes from online businesses will help to level the playing field,” said Hartzler. “And I hope this will be part of our upcoming House tax reform bill.”
She concluded by stating her support for career education, whether college, community college or technical school.
Said Hartzler, “My dream is every kid would find a place for them to succeed.”