EC from DC

Last week marked the 14th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our nation. We will always remember the sacrifices of those who died innocently that day, as well as the valiant acts of heroism of rescue workers, intelligence professionals, and service members in the days, months, and years following.

Like everything else in contemporary Washington, discussion of the Iran nuclear agreement has not been a noteworthy debate about policy, but rather a worthless exercise in Lilliputian politics.

Last week I had the great opportunity to join President Barack Obama and twenty other Members of Congress, a bipartisan group of both the House and the Senate, on a five-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. We left from Washington, D.C. Thursday evening and spent two days in Kenya and two days in Ethiopia.

Each season a new class of interns arrives on Capitol Hill in my Congressional office full of nervousness and excitement for the job at hand: serving the people of Missouri's Fifth District. As we reach the midpoint of these summer internships, I wanted to share with you some of what they have been working on.

This week was a big week for our efforts to bridge the digital divide in Missouri’s Fifth District. President Obama in coordination with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that they have chosen Kansas City to participate in their new digital inclusion program that they rolled out this week.

Last week was a historic week for our nation, as the Supreme Court announced two key decisions that will forever mark a victorious few days in the fight for equal rights and basic healthcare.

Today, I am on my way to Charleston, South Carolina, to attend the funeral of the late Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney.