One of the first bills the new Congress took up this week was the Keystone XL Pipeline. This infrastructure project is a pipeline to move oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The project will add more than 40,000 jobs to the workforce and lower energy costs for all Americans. There is strong bipartisan support; however, President Obama has threatened to veto the project when it comes across his desk. The president is sending a clear message to America - he does not want to work with Congress o... READ MORE
This week, Congressman Jason Smith voted to correct some of the biggest flaws of the Obamacare law. While Congressman Smith will continue to push for a full repeal of the law, the Hire More Heroes Act and Save American Workers Act will relieve several obstacles to getting Americans back to work again. “Although President Obama is not likely to admit how truly devastating the law is, I do not want to settle for anything short of a full repeal of Obamacare,” Congressman Smith said. “In the meanti... READ MORE
Today, Congressman Jason Smith was sworn into the 114th Congress. This will be his second term representing the Eighth Congressional District of Missouri. Congressman Smith previously served in the 113th Congress after winning a special election in June 2013. “I am honored, and I am humbled to be able to represent the great people of Missouri’s Eighth District,” Congressman Smith said. “As we begin the 114th Congress with much work to be done, I will continue to lead the fight for rural America... READ MORE
As 2014 and the 113th Congress draw to a close, I would like to take some time this week to look back and reflect on the 18 months I have been able to serve you in Missouri’s Eighth Congressional District. This time last year I wrote a column outlining five goals I had for the year. They were: reining in the IRS and the EPA, returning to a better appropriations process, finding bipartisan solutions for problems, protecting rural America, and watching the Missouri Tigers have another successful f... READ MORE
The House and Senate will officially be sworn in for their next term in January and there is a lot of work to be done. In the next Congress, I will be working with a larger House majority and new Senate majority, and we will hit the ground running on day one to provide relief to Americans throughout the country, especially in rural America. With the House and Senate finally working together, I anticipate many more bills going to the president’s desk. He has been able to hide behind the Democrat-... READ MORE
Last week the House made important progress on an issue I have been fighting since I got to protecting our farmers and landowners from intrusive federal regulations. Since I have been in office, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have been scheming to take away our property rights. We know this from their actions. First, they proposed the National Blueway designation for the White River Watershed that would have created “buffer zones” keeping farmers from using their land. Then they propose... READ MORE
Yesterday, Congressman Jason Smith sent a letter to President Obama condemning new opposition to the St. John’s Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project, and calling for the project’s completion. Congressman Smith wrote to answer letters sent to President Obama Tuesday by environmental groups and “local leaders” calling for the president and the EPA to exercise an obscure “Clean Water Act Veto” to kill the project. “If President Obama vetoes the St. John’s/New Madrid Floodway project it will erase... READ MORE
Today, Congressman Jason Smith praised the extension of Section 179 expensing in the tax code which includes valuable savings for individuals and businesses that had expired at the beginning of this year. Now that the president has signed the House bill, these savings will be available when individuals and businesses file their tax returns for 2014. “I have been working for six months to extend Section 179 expensing at the full level for another year.” said Congressman Smith. “While this legisl... READ MORE
This week I made one of the most difficult votes of my career. I voted for an omnibus funding bill that includes a continuing resolution. The bill makes major cuts that reflect our rural values and prepares the way for a fight with President Obama over his planned illegal amnesty order. I voted for this bill because it was the most conservative option in front of me. It puts Congress in the best position to fight President Obama on amnesty next session, with a new Republican majority in the Sena... READ MORE
Today, the House passed a bipartisan bill to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs response and treatment to wounded warriors with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, will help prevent veteran suicides which occur at twice the rate of the civilian population. It provides more access to mental health care for veterans and improves recruitment of mental health professionals to cut wait times. “The men and women of our militar... READ MORE
