State Of The Union

Dear Friend,

This week I was honored to attend President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address to the nation. Every day I'm able to serve Missouri is a blessing and I am committed to helping North Missourians and Americans across the country lead productive and fulfilling lives.

Nationwide, we are starting to see many positive changes. After the passage of tax reform, we have seen over three million workers reap the benefits of bonuses, pay raises, and improved employee benefits. Best of all, most middle-class Americans should have bigger paychecks as soon as next month due to their tax liability going down.

2017 was a record year for our economy and this is only the beginning.

Since taking office, President Trump has reinvigorated and stimulated our economy with record-setting stock market growth, which bodes well for pensions across the board, a declining unemployment rate, and steady GDP growth.

During President Trump's State of the Union speech, he emphasized his plan for a "strong, safe and secure America". I was pleased to hear he is making border security and infrastructure two key focal points for our future.

While our country is made great because of immigration, we must also ensure that those who come here do so legally. Any plan for immigration reform simply will not be effective until we first devise and implement a plan to safely secure our border.

A wall is not the only answer to our immigration problem. But having a President in office that will enforce our existing laws is a good place to start.

Another top priority that requires our immediate attention is the status of our nation's infrastructure.

Infrastructure is a major driver of our nation's economy and 2018 presents a great opportunity for us to push the throttle on our economic growth and advance a comprehensive infrastructure package.

As Chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, I look forward to working with President Trump and my fellow colleagues to improve the infrastructure of today and build for the infrastructure of tomorrow.

In my conversations with Republicans, Independents, and Democrats across the Sixth District, we rarely disagree on objectives. We all want opportunity, good-paying jobs, rising incomes, a safe and secure country, and all the freedoms that are guaranteed by our Constitution.

Making our country safe, strong and secure will require bipartisan support and collaboration across the aisle. Improving our infrastructure and securing our border are not partisan issues. As we look towards the future, I'm optimistic that we can, and will, come together to enact President Trump's legislative priorities to further strengthen the state of our union and continue to make North Missouri a safer and more prosperous place to live.

Sincerely,

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Sam Graves