EC from DC - March 22, 2013

Celebrating National Agriculture Day (March 19) and National Agriculture Week (March 17-23) is both an honor and an opportunity. From the food on our tables to the clothes on our backs and the medicines we put into our bodies, agriculture is critical to each and every one of us.

Sharing that message, so that all can better understand the importance of agriculture and the rural/urban connection, is one of the topics I had the privilege of discussing recently with Kaleigh Summers (seen above). She is a native of Slater, a junior at Mizzou, and a representative of the Agricultural Future of America. Kaleigh visited my office in DC while attending a conference of AFA, 4-H, and FFA members from across the country. She tells me her passion is helping spread the message of what farmers, ranchers, and others in the agriculture community do. We discussed ways to highlight the food connection between all communities, from rural neighborhoods to urban and suburban ones.

That kind of understanding can begin with some facts about what is happening right here at home.

• There are more than 106,000 farms in Missouri that cover almost 29 million acres.

• Missouri consists of mainly small farms averaging about 271 acres.

• Agriculture in Missouri is incredibly diverse including everything from corn, soybeans, and other field crops, to livestock, hay, fruits, aquaculture, and forestry.

• Missouri ranks 2nd in the nation in soybean production with more than 4.6 million acres planted in 2011.

• Missouri is 4th in the nation for turkey production.

Farmers, ranchers, and producers have always been, and continue to be, creative, innovative, and resourceful. They help keep our food safe, abundant in supply, and cost effective. I have a deep appreciation for their hard and dedicated work across the country, and more specifically, in Missouri’s Fifth District.

National Ag Day gives us a time to reflect on the security and strength they bring to our country. Indeed, I believe it is important for all of us to know the story and history of agriculture in our state. But it is also important to teach our children about it. So the next generation, filled with promising young people like Kaleigh, will continue spreading the word of what those in the agriculture community really do.

I met this week with Matthew Mauer, the General Vice-President of the International Association of Fire Fighters local 3808. We talked about SAFER grants, which provide funding to help pay the costs associated with hiring personnel to maintain safe staffing levels. We also discussed FIRE grants, which fund equipment, training and other fire department needs. These grants provide real value to our communities -- they helped pay for the two pumper trucks that firefighters in Kansas City currently use to put out fires and protect public safety.

It was such a pleasure to get some visitors in my Washington office recently. The group was touring the nation’s capital and learning about government. 7th and 8th grade students from Faith Academy at Harvest Church in Missouri’s Fifth District chose talking politics over having fun on the beach for their spring break adventures.

It was so nice to meet with these young people who are working hard to do well in school and succeed in life. They had planned to tour the White House, but due to sequestration, those tours have been cancelled. Still though, they seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully learned a lot.

Again, I will share a Mother Goose rhyme which I learned from my Great Aunt Edna. After all these years, I have it in my memory bank.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I've been down to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse, under her chair.

Even with my 5 or 6 year old mind, I saw the pussy cat as a “Silly Billy.” Why in the world would anyone have the great privilege of visiting the Queen in Buckingham Palace and spend it running after a rat?

We, the Members of the United States Congress, are privileged to stand in the well of the House chamber and speak from behind the same venerable podium where Daniel Webster spoke eloquently. We walk on the same concrete floor over which Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, John Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush walked.

Even with my adult mind, I cannot understand why anyone who is elected to this once esteemed body would spend time searching for the malice mice of legislative logjams and over-the-top political tribalism.

Look, when our time of service in this great institution ends, we certainly want our children and grandchildren to look back on the monumental achievement we made, rather than the mice we chased.