Maryville Daily Forum - Graves Strikes Familiar Themes at Q&A

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It's August, and for members of the U.S. Congress that means it's time to leave Washington for a few weeks and check in with the folks back home.

So it was no surprise when Republican Rep. Sam Graves, whose geographically massive 6th District includes virtually all of Missouri north of Interstate 70, showed up at the Hubbard Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the Northwest Missouri State University campus Tuesday for a constituent Q&A.

About 30 people showed up for the event, during which Graves traveled what, for him, has become very familiar legislative ground.

He sharply criticized what he called a "plethora of regulations" being issued by government entities --particularly the Environmental Protection Agency -- and said the rules amounted to law enacted by executive decree rather than congressional authority.

"It's the worst kind of law, in my opinion," said Graves of new Obama administration rules covering everything from carbon emissions at coal-fired plants to wetlands to wood-burning stoves.

"All of these are a real problem," he said.

Graves added that the White House's eagerness to implement policy without benefit of legislative action is what has led to a lawsuit against President Barack Obama filed by Republican lawmakers who say they are incensed at Obama's use of executive orders to sidestep a deeply partisan Congress.

Regulations issued to improve environmental conditions and wildlife habitat along the Missouri River have always been especially irksome to Graves, a professional farmer from Tarkio. He repeated those concerns in Maryville this week, stating that the "EPA has moved the goal posts too many times."

He also said he was working to promote legislation that would require any regulatory measures imposed by the agency costing more than $50 million to be ratified by Congress. Another proposal, he said, would contain a similar restriction on regulations instituted by any federal agency that cost more than $100 million.

Comfortable and smiling before an obviously friendly crowd, Graves responded to a series of questions that more or less boiled down to a single query: What can you do to get the government off our backs and away from our schools, farms and small businesses?

It was a concern to which Graves, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, was more than happy to respond by posing objections to administration policy on issues as varied as school lunch nutrition and the Endangered Species Act.

Acknowledging a thank-you from an audience member for his work in securing passage this year of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, usually referred to as WRRDA, Graves said he was pleased that the measure gained bi-partisan support in both houses of Congress.

The bill, seen as crucial by many farmers along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, gives a higher priority to such U.S. Army Corps of Engineers missions as flood prevention and navigation.

On other fronts, Graves appeared to depart a couple of times, if ever so slightly, from conservative Republican orthodoxy. The most notable instance was in his response to a question from a Northwest Missouri State student reporter about the possibility of legalizing the agricultural production of hemp and marijuana.

Graves said he strongly opposed legislation proposing that the U.S. government refrain from enforcing its own drug laws in states where growing hemp or marijuana is legal. But he also said he had no special objection to a congressional debate with regard to existing federal prohibitions against hemp production.

On the issue of equipping police departments with military-style weapons and equipment, a practice that has come under scrutiny in the wake of the Ferguson riots, Graves staked out what appeared to be middle ground.

He said that police departments have long been able to seek grants to fund the acquisition of military-surplus body armor and other gear, and that the issuance of such equipment to officers is usually appropriate.

"But what about a tank?" Graves asked. "In my opinion they probably don't need that."

However, the congressman added that he wasn't sure if deciding what kind of equipment local police use on the street is a function of the federal government.

He said that if citizens believe officers are too aggressive or military in outlook, they should elect local officials capable of organizing police departments in ways that better serve their communities.

Graves in currently serving his seventh two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He will face Democratic challenger Bill Hedge of St. Joseph in the November general election.

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