View From the Capitol - Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler's Newsletter for the Week of May 12-16, 2014

Good Day,

This week was an in-district work week, giving me a chance to spend time away from Washington and with the good people of Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District. I visited several places, meeting some of the folks who make our district a special place in which to live and work.

A tour of Harleman Manufacturing was one of the highlights of a stop in El Dorado Springs. Harleman and its staff of 16 employees make diggers, augers, and tree saws for personal and commercial use.

Owner Ron Harleman’s primary customers are utilities / energy companies and farms. But the company proved its worth after an inch of ice coated the copper weld conductor lines in southeastern Kansas in December of 2007. Hundreds of poles snapped as the weight of the ice stretched lines to the limit. The electric cooperative for the area invested in auger, pole-setting and drilling attachments from Harleman to restore what had been damaged in the ice storm. Nobody wants to see electric utility equipment damaged by severe weather, but we can be pleased that this Fourth District company was able to leap into action and come to the aid of our neighbors in Kansas when the severe weather hit.

While in El Dorado Springs, I also visited Cedar County Memorial Hospital. Cedar County Memorial provides critical care service to the citizens of the region. I was impressed with the beautiful facility and caring staff which provides cutting edge health care including CT scans, digital mammography, physical and occupational therapy, a sleep lab, and a special senior citizens unit known as Senior Life Solutions which addresses mental health issues. Cedar County Memorial even has an indoor swimming pool for therapy and water aerobics classes and is used on a daily basis. The people of Cedar County are blessed to have this facility in their community.

I am supportive of our rural hospitals and am doing what I can to support the funding they need. With the changes due to Obamacare it is becoming increasingly challenging to provide healthcare in local communities. Rest assured, I will continue to support adequate funding for healthcare while also advancing reforms needed to reduce the cost of care and increase access for all.

Later, in Vernon County, I visited Deerfield Energy, a plant that employs 70 people and receives 80-85 truckloads of soybeans every day. It was interesting to witness the process that begins with the crushing of the raw soybeans and ends with a finished biodiesel product. As I have said on many occasions, one of the greatest pleasures of my job as a representative of the people of Missouri’s Fourth District is to visit with the hardworking citizens who make this country work … and to take their common sense ideas back to Washington.

I also had an opportunity this week to visit one of the great schools in our district, touring Butler High School in Bates County and meeting with Leslie Hedrick and students of her American Government class.

As a former school teacher, I enjoy talking to students and listening to what’s on their minds as they prepare for future educational opportunities and careers. With a great deal of attention being paid to final exams and graduation preparation this is a busy time in high schools across our state and I thank the administrators, staff, and students of Butler High School for taking the time to allow me to visit.

Finally, I want to share with you an award I recently received while in D.C. from the International Foodservice Distributors Association. The 2014 Thomas Jefferson Award honors a legislator’s commitment to free enterprise based on efforts to increase economic opportunity and to reduce government regulation. This is needed to create more jobs and enable all to pursue the American Dream.

I was pleased to accept the award on behalf of all our citizens who support free enterprise and who want to see our overreaching government get out of the way.

Have a great week.

Vicky