Vicky Hartzler

Listening to you

It was a privilege to host a live, interactive telephone town hall where I was able to engage with over 5,100 of you! It was a joy to hear from Missouri’s Fourth during this time.

My town halls are setup in a way so I am able to answer both live and internet-submitted questions. The questions covered many topics including the American Health Care Act, House and Senate investigations into Russia, the electoral college, trade and trade agreements going forward, and education. I think we had a productive discussion and I appreciate the many comments, ideas, concerns, and suggestions people voiced so I can best represent them and everyone in Missouri’s Fourth.

If you weren’t able to make it this past week, you can listen to the meeting by going to https://vekeo.com/event/congresswomanhartzler-31453/. Additionally, I hope you will join me next week for my next interactive telephone town hall on Tuesday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

Note:  Pre-registration is NOT required, it only ensures a constituent will get a call from Hartzler’s office to participate in the meeting. Fourth District residents can pre-register for the March 28 event at hartzler.house.gov/live. Constituents can live stream the meeting and submit questions for the Congresswoman once the event starts at that link.

We can do better

I am always grateful for the many individuals who work diligently at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to serve those who have sacrificed so much for our country. Without them, many veterans would not have access to the care and services they utilize each day. Unfortunately, there are often times where the VA fails to hold its employees accountable for their actions, which ends up being a detriment to those they are trying to serve.

With that said, more should be done to ensure VA employees are accountable for their actions. That is why I was happy to support the VA Accountability First Act of 2017, which passed the House this week. This bill would provide the VA Secretary increased flexibility to remove, demote, or suspend any VA employee, including Senior Executive Service employees, for performance or misconduct. I look forward to supporting more ways to enhance veterans quality of care and life.

Around Missouri’s Fourth

I was able to spend some travel time in our Fourth District this week as well as visit a couple job creators in Windsor and Sedalia.

Windsor is home to Midwest Metalcraft, which manufactures food-processing equipment as well as services the products it sells. Midwest’s products are used not only by consumers in Missouri, but throughout the nation and world. Their products are made through the fabrication of stainless steel, mild steel, aluminum and specialty alloys.

In Sedalia, I stopped into Duke Manufacturing, a leader in profitable food service solutions to companies and institutions that help feed people around the world. Duke was founded in 1925 and was the first manufacturer of the waterless hot well. Duke manufactures over 20 product lines including serving systems, steamtables, convection ovens and fold holding units. In addition to its 680,000 square foot facility in Sedalia, Duke has a manufacturing plant in St. Louis, with service and distribution facilities in Europe, Latin America and Asia. I never fail to be impressed with the quality of work performed in our district. It is top notch.

As former school teacher, I enjoyed meeting with students from Crocker High School as part of their trip to Washington, D.C. It impresses me to see the interest these students have in the function of our government as well as current events. I was happy to listen to and help answer some of their questions.

Members of the Missouri Press Association (MPA) visited the Nation’s Capital this week to take part in a National Newspaper Association summit to discuss topics of interest to the newspaper industry, including postal reform. The group included Mark Maasen, executive director of the MPA; Gary and Helen Sosniecki, retired publishers from Lebanon; Trevor Vernon, publisher of the Hermitage Index and the Eldon Advertiser; Tianna Brooks, publisher of the Mountain View Standard News; and Jeff Schrag, 2017 president of the MPA and publisher of the Springfield Daily Events. The community newspapers represented by these individuals are important to cities and towns in our district and throughout Missouri. I was pleased to meet with this group and hear its concerns.

Thank you for taking time to read my weekly newsletter.

Have a great week

Vicky Hartzler

Member of Congress