I hope you and your families were able to enjoy one of the many Fourth of July celebrations around the Third District last week. There was a lot of fun to be had! We had a great weekend filled with baseball, parades, fireworks, and of course barbeque which is an Independence Day must for my family. Fourth of July is also a scheduled district work period for Congress allowing me the opportunity to catch up with constituents. Here are just a few highlights from my travels. 

One of the most fun stops I made was at the Missouri Corn Growers Association’s (MCGA) Helping Youth Prepare for Excellence academy. This is a wonderful program the MCGA puts on every summer with the Missouri Future Farmers of America (FFA) for high school students around our area. The students research pertinent issues and prepare testimony to be given before Missouri legislators in a mock public hearing. This academy provides valuable civic engagement experience as well as an opportunity to practice advocating for an industry that is so important to our way of life here in the Third District. It’s always encouraging to meet the next generation of farmers, and it was great to see this wonderful program in action. 

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has a campus in Jefferson County where I was able to take a tour. The NGA is part of both the Department of Defense and American Intelligence Community and provides critical navigation support for our military, first responders, humanitarian efforts as well as any American who uses a map on their cellphone to get from point A to B. Their technology allows them to provide near-real time updates for our warfighters and national security officials for imminent threats from adversaries. The breadth of the work that is done at NGA is truly remarkable. NGA’s headquarters is in Virginia, but their next two biggest facilities are located right here in Missouri. In fact, the NGA has been in Missouri since 1827, where the St. Louis Arsenal started manufacturing arms for the United States Army and settlers headed west. This agency has called our state home for decades and I’m very pleased it will continue creating Missouri jobs. 

As one of the top Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee, I am always glad to meet with groups around the Third District to provide an update on what’s happening on Capitol Hill that could affect our local economy. I met with some members of our state Financial Services Committee in Jefferson City as well some financial services providers from around the state to discuss regulations, legislation I’m working on that would bring more accountability and transparency to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB), and ways we can ensure all Missourians have access to credit. Soliciting feedback directly from Missourians gives me the most valuable information I can get to do my job. 

Being here at home always gives me a fresh mindset to head back to Washington, D.C. And getting to see familiar faces as well as meeting new ones around the Third District is the best part of the job. I hope you and your family had a very happy holiday.