WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) released the following comments on President Bush’s seventh and final State of the Union address.

“After every State of the Union we discuss the challenges facing our nation and different, often partisan, approaches to addressing them.  This year we should underscore the basic importance of working together across party lines to improve our standard of living at home and our stature abroad.  On some issues there can be no progress without cooperation: we must negotiate a Farm Bill that gives American producers a level playing field in the global marketplace while keeping a safe, affordable supply of food on our store shelves.  We must identify the needs of the Baby Boom generation and devise a plan to meet them, starting with access to health care.  We must promote a strong American economy, starting with sound tax policy for the American people and going all the way up to our fight for equal opportunities in world markets, where consumer safety and energy policy should be leading concerns.  We must have an ambitious agenda that puts the people of this country ahead of partisan politics.

“I’m very pleased that the president addressed the sweeping problem of global hunger in his speech.  However, his proposed course of action calls for increasing local purchase efforts – instead of sending food to starving nations, we would send money.  Populations suffering from famine need a safe, secure and stable supply of nutritious resources.  U.S. food aid puts bags of food in towns and villages in every corner of the world, and each bag says “Gift of the People of the United States.”  Food has a dramatic advantage over cash aid – food can only be eaten.  Money can be diverted, mismanaged, abused and dangerous to local economies in hundreds of ways in which food commodities cannot.

“I appreciate the president’s insistence that the federal spending process be transparent and efficient, and I share those goals.  Every earmark in federal legislation should be visible to the legislators who vote on the bill and to the public whose money is being spent.  At its heart, the appropriations process is a valuable way to give members of Congress input on how federal money is being spent in their districts.  I don’t want to offend any Washington, DC bureaucrats, but they simply don’t know what’s best for Southern Missouri.  It’s the people who live and work in places that need road improvements, require sufficient flood protection, and need more support for public safety who should have a say in these important spending decisions.”

-30-