Jefferson City, Missouri - Senator Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, invites citizens and media from Missouri’s Bootheel to attend an announcement regarding the opening of a new aluminum smelter in New Madrid County.

 

“Our local communities have been struggling since the loss of Noranda, I am happy to announce that Magnitude 7 Metals plans to bring many good paying jobs back to our area. Along with our highly-skilled workforce, this announcement gives our region hope that better times are ahead,” Sen. Libla said. “When the smelter closed in 2016, approximately 900 people lost their jobs. The new smelter and the new jobs are great news for New Madrid County and the Bootheel.”

 

WHO: Sen. Doug Libla and other state and local lawmakers

WHAT: Magnitude 7 Aluminum Smelter Opening Announcement

WHEN: 2 p.m., Friday, March 9

WHERE: St. Jude Industrial Park in New Madrid County

 

This event is open to the public.

U.S. Rep. Smith Stands with White House to Support U.S. Aluminum Industry

White House announces new planned protections for U.S. Aluminum after months of working with Smith and industry leaders

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Smith congratulated the White House on the President’s plans to place new trade protections for domestically made aluminum and steel, helping to bring back thousands of American jobs in those industries. Specifically, President Trump announced his intent to crack down and reduce foreign aluminum imports flooding the U.S. markets with new trade enforcement measures. The President’s announcement followed the recommendations of Smith who was at the White House as recently as Tuesday discussing this issue. Smith also met with President Trump at the White House earlier in February to discuss what can be done to support the U.S. aluminum industry.

 

“I am proud I could help President Trump come to a decision and take action to rejuvenate the American aluminum industry,” said Congressman Smith. “With the President’s leadership, the aluminum industry in places like the Bootheel can be poised for a comeback.”

 

Smith has a strong record of fighting for domestic aluminum production. In 2016, Smith led a bipartisan initiative that called for an investigation of factors affecting the global competitiveness of the U.S. aluminum industry, including overproduction and subsidies in other countries. Smith stood with President Trump in the Oval Office in 2017 to sign the order expediting the conclusions of that study which were subsequently released in February 2018 and showed the impact unfair foreign practices have had on the American aluminum industry. 

 

“I have been pushing for the needed changes in U.S. trade policy, the needed regulatory relief and changes to our tax code because I know the domestic aluminum industry can be viable once again, and there is no better place than right here in southern Missouri,” said Congressman Smith.

 

In 2000, there were 22 aluminum smelters in the United States, and now there are only two fully operational facilities left. Noranda Aluminum in New Madrid was one of those forced to close. In that same time period, China’s share of worldwide aluminum smelting market has grown from 11 percent to now 55 percent.

 

“Watching the Bootheel lose more than 900 good-paying jobs was flat out heartbreaking,” said Congressman Smith. “Even worse was knowing that an unfair playing field and over production in China were major contributing factors. But I am encouraged by President Trump’s efforts. Actions like the one he announced planning to take today are the start of revitalizing and reinvigorating the American aluminum industry.”    

 

“American manufacturers are ready to compete, but we have to make sure the playing field is level,” said Congressman Smith. “President Trump’s announcement is a strong step forward that will stop foreign countries’ unfair trade practices and create a level playing field for our hard-working American aluminum manufacturers.”

 

Congressman Smith Capitol Report

Billy Graham, America’s Pastor

March 2, 2018

 

“My home is in heaven, I am just traveling through this world.” On February 21, 2018, Reverend Billy Graham was welcomed to his true home in heaven. This week, we honored his life and legacy with a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol. It was an honor to attend the ceremony and pay my respects to a man who lifted up our entire nation and changed countless lives.

 

Back in 1934, Billy Graham’s father welcomed North Carolina businessmen from Charlotte to their family dairy farm so they could gather for prayer. When they met to pray, they asked God to bring someone up out of Charlotte who would share His message “to the ends of the earth.” Billy Graham was 15 years old when the businessmen sat on his father’s farm and prayed that prayer. A few months later, Billy made an incredible and personal decision that would change the whole world… he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. That North Carolina farm boy walked off of the dairy farm and into history, following the Lord each step of the way.

 

Billy Graham was America’s pastor, a true man of faith who was committed to family while having a profound impact on many, many people. He held his last crusade in St. Louis in 1999. Busloads of believers from all over Missouri and beyond made the trip to hear him preach during a 4-night crusade at the old TWA Dome. Some Missourians made the trip early so they could sing in the crusade choir. Most just came to hear for themselves the preacher they had watched share the Good News on TV for decades. 

 

As the son of a pastor, I remember Billy Graham’s sermons well. Like my family, many of Graham’s faithful followers have stories of sitting in their living rooms with their parents and grandparents, watching the crusades on television or listening to his sermons on the radio. I still remember the way Reverend Graham made with his messages about faith and Jesus’ love so relatable. When you listened to him preach, it was like you were sitting right next to Billy in the kitchen and hearing the best message, “God loves you,” from across the table.

 

America is a nation of prayer. Whether it was our Founding Father George Washington, President Lincoln, President Eisenhower or Dr. King, our nation has been led through many hard times with the power of prayer. After the ceremony honoring Reverend Graham at the U.S. Capitol, I headed back home to visit the folks in Matthews and Malden and surveyed damage from recent severe weather. As I walked through town and saw homes and businesses that were destroyed by high winds, rain and tornadoes, I was reminded of what Reverend Graham once said, “Take one day at a time. Today, after all, is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.” While the road to rebuilding will be long, there is nothing material that cannot be replaced. These communities are strong and will come out on the other side of this natural disaster through the help of friends and neighbors.

 

Billy Graham was an ambassador for Christ who shared the power of prayer and the gift of God’s grace with the world. As we give thanks for his extraordinary life on earth, let us pray that the Lord will raise up more men and women like Billy Graham who will continue to share the message of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Reverend Graham left an incredible legacy here on earth, and I know when he saw the face of Jesus, he was welcomed with the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant, well done.”

 

Rural America is roaring back. A recent report from the Department of Agriculture shows that for only the second time in the last century, we are actually increasing the number of farmers under the age of 35. With the President’s leadership, we have been able to deliver tax cuts for American farmers, reduced federal regulations at a rate of 22:1, driven down energy prices and have grown the economy to bring jobs back to rural America.

 

Personally, I experienced this resurgence first hand during my annual farm tour last August. The tenor of the farms I visited changed from the previous year’s visits – no longer was there a clamor to stop this regulation or slow down a new federal rule, more it was optimism for what a limited government approach in both Jefferson City and Washington DC would bring.  

 

This past week, I was at the White House with President Trump where we discussed the priorities of rural America when it comes to negotiating fair deals for our farmers and rural based businesses. We talked specifically about ending unfair practices from foreign countries that are hurting the American worker. I told him about how some of these foreign practices aided in us losing our Aluminum smelter plant in New Madrid and with it, 900 jobs. We discussed how with a stronger economy, a better tax code, fewer regulations, lower energy prices and new, fairer trade deals, we believe that we can bring back the domestic aluminum and steel industries and with it, jobs.

 

By sharp contrast, for eight years, I watched the Obama Administration wage a war on rural America. Seeing folks back home struggle under the crushing burden of Obama Administration rules and regulations is one of the reasons I ran for office. Obama gave us stringent overtime rules, tried to regulate kids working on their family farm, wanted to treat spilled cow milk like a leaking oil tanker and even tried to put federal mandates on every drop of water on a farmer’s land. These rules were strangling locally-owned businesses and making it nearly impossible for folks to keep the doors open, the lights on and the cows fed. Despite these challenges, the work ethic of Missourians never faltered. In fact, they just fought harder to keep their businesses going. 

 

It’s incredible to now be working with a White House actually interested in strengthening the business climate here in the U.S. and improving the prospect of farming and our rural way of life back home. As a result of our tax cuts legislation, farmers have more money to invest in their fields and families, American workers are receiving larger paychecks, benefits and bonuses, and businesses large and small are looking to expand and grow here in the U.S. We’ve also made major progress on cutting Obama-era regulations. In fact, more than 1,500 regulations have been withdrawn completely or delayed. Regulatory repeals by Congress and the President will save Americans $8.1 billion over their lifetimes, and more than $9.8 billion is expected to be saved through regulations we are working to repeal in 2018. I am also working directly with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, to expand rural broadband across southeast and south central Missouri, an important advancement in order to improve the education and job prospects of today and tomorrow. 

 

I am encouraged by the President’s strong policies to ensure rural America stays open for business and helps Missourians thrive. His commitment to fight for fair deals on every front for American workers is amazing, and I’m proud to stand alongside him in the fight. Whether I’m holding a small business roundtable in Salem or Hillsboro, making stops on my listening tour in Jackson, Farmington or Poplar Bluff, traveling to farm operations in each of our 30 counties or hosting a rural broadband discussion with the Trump Administration in West Plains, I hear over and over again about just how much easier it is to operate a business or family farm with President Trump in office. While we have many more steps and actions to take, rural America is once again open for business.

Congressman Smith Capitol Report

Turn Over Enough Stones…

February 9, 2018

 

The United States of America was born out of a revolt by the original colonies against their British controllers - controllers who taxed too much, took away too many rights and asked too much. When our new country rose from that great war for independence, we formed a nation which believed in individual rights over the rights of the state and a country who put protecting the constitutional liberties of each and every American above all else.  Unfortunately, as it relates to the most recent presidential election, we are beginning to learn more and more about how those rights were trampled upon by actors at some of the most integral levels of your government.

 

The American public deserves to know how this was allowed to happen. With the release last week of the memo from the U.S. House Select Committee on Intelligence, we now know more than we ever did before – with even more still to come. What was shared with the declassification of the report from the Intelligence Committee was information that government entities requested and were granted the right to spy and surveil a component of President Trump’s campaign. We now know that some of the information they used to convince a judge to grant that right was a dossier written about President Trump by someone who had a strong bias against Donald Trump, and that he was paid to do it by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton Campaign. That’s right, a government agency used a campaign opposition research piece to convince a judge to allow them to spy on the campaign of our next President of the United States.

 

Oversight, or making sure our government is doing the right thing for the people, is one of the top responsibilities of Congress. What we have uncovered so far is that the author of the dossier on President Trump is someone who has said in meetings during the months leading up to the November 2016 election that he was “desperate” for Donald Trump to not get elected and “passionate about him not being president.” Yet it was this same individual’s ‘report’ which was used and presented as evidence in a court in order to have a judge grant permission for the government to spy on associates of the Trump campaign. Beyond that, the dossier’s author was someone who even the FBI had themselves earlier fired for being a leaker and for serving as an unauthorized source to media. In other words, the government used fake information, written by an anti-Trump activist, funded by the Clinton campaign to get authorization from a secret court to spy on the Trump Campaign.

 

As if a politically motivated, fake dossier wasn’t enough, using that information to justify spying on a United States citizen is even more concerning. It eats away at the core foundation of our nation. You have a right to know what happened and what reforms will make sure it never happens again. You also deserve to know who authorized what and how they will be legally required to answer for their actions. Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent or not politically affiliated at all, every American should want answers, want action and want accountability for this very disturbing revelation. Justice is not supposed to be biased, it is not supposed to have a party affiliation, it is supposed to be exactly what it is – fair, impartial, and by definition incorruptible. As your voice in Congress, it is my responsibility to continue to get these answers for you and ensure no one in Washington tramples on your freedoms while running away with an unchecked amount of power.