Missouri is a mid-western state located at the geographical centre of the United States. The state’s landscape is both rich and diverse with a lot of economic potential. Missouri has 114 counties that are spread across its rural and urban areas (Hardy, Dohm and Leuthold 1). Senator Roy Blunt built on his background in public service, academic contribution as a teacher and his display of leadership as university president to seek the people’s vote for the Missouri senate seat. In 2010, Senator Blunt was elected to the United States Senate (Blunt 1).
The Senator has several roles and responsibilities on different Senate committees as well as in the Republican Party. He is a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; the Appropriations Committee; the Rules and Administration Committee; and the Armed Services Committee. Senator Blunt is the Ranking Republican in a number of subcommittees namely the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security; and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Blunt 1).
During his first year in the Senate, Senator Blunt was elected by colleagues to serve as Vice chairperson of the Republican Conference in the Senate. Blunt also serves as a member of the Republican Whip Team at the Senate. Blunt previously represented the citizens of Southwest Missouri at the U.S. House of Representatives seven times between 1996 and 2008. When serving as a member of the House of Representatives, he was elected as House Majority Whip and also served thrice as Republican Whip. Blunt is among a select few congressmen who have had the privilege to serve as Majority Whip at very early stages in their careers (Center for Creative Politics 1).
Senator Blunt started out as a history teacher before shifting his career to become a county official. In 1984, he was elected Missouri’s Secretary of State on a Republican ticket and became the first republican to hold the office in over 50 years (Center for Creative Politics 1). Senator Blunt also served as President of Southwest Baptist University Missouri for four years. The Senator is one of the trustees of the State Historical Society of Missouri and a member of the Smithsonian Council for American Art. The Senator is husband to Abigail Blunt. The couple has four children and six grandchildren (Blunt 1).
Missouri operates on a varied economy but its main revenue source is industry. There are a number of industries that operate in Missouri. The major industries include transportation, machinery, agriculture, aerospace, manufacturing, electrical and tourism. There are also a number of minerals produced within the state such as lead, coal, zinc, cement and crushed stone. St. Luis is well known for chemical and metal manufacture. Kansas City specializes in livestock, wheat, and automobiles. In manufacturing, the state produces a lot of transport equipment through McDonnell-Douglas and electrical equipment through Emerson Electric. Food processing is also a major activity with processes such as meat processing and packaging plants, beer brewery (Anheuser-Busch), and grain mills (Ralston-Purina). The Mosanto Company specializes in the production of Chemicals Hardy, Dohm and Leuthold 142).
Missouri boasts of being an agriculturally rich state. There are over 100,000 farms and it is the second largest farm ownership state in terms of the number of farms. The state produces a large number of livestock. It also has a substantial level of production of turkeys and hogs. The main crops produced include corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, apples, tobacco, peaches, and rice. It also has a dedicated wine industry that competes favorably with other states. Tourism plays an important role in Missouri’s economy. There is a wide range of tourism facilities from resorts, lakes, parks and theatres (Hardy, Dohm and Leuthold 145).
Senator Blunt also contributes to agricultural issues in the house. In March 2013, he made an anonymous introduction on spending resolution dubbed the Farmer Assurance Provision. The amendment grants the secretary of agriculture the power to temporarily suspend any federal court injunction on the plating of a GMO crop if the matter is under deliberation by the Secretary. According to Blunt, the amendment was to protect those who plant a crop that is latter declared illegal after it is already grown. It will allow them to harvest it. He also helped to protect the Amendment when Senator Jeff Merkley attempted to repeal it (Center for Creative Politics 1).
Senator Blunt appreciates the role played by small enterprises in an economy. In Missouri, it is the small enterprises that continue to create almost two-thirds of employment opportunities that become available within the state. The small enterprises also account for over half of the jobs in the private sector. The Senator strongly believes in the economic power possessed by private enterprises. He believes that the federal government is obligated to ensure certainty in the nation’s economic environment in order to foster job creation (Blunt 1). One way for the federal government to do this is to provide incentives for businesses that create jobs and also reduce taxes and regulations that discourage investment.
The Senator also advocates for lower taxes. Lower taxes allow for businesses to retain a larger amount of their revenue and profits which can in turn be used for job creation and business expansion. In line with this, the Senator was among members who voted for a permanent extension the current tax rates which apply for the larger proportion of Americans (Blunt 1). He worked hard to ensure the tax policies were passed both in 2001 and 2003. In early 2013, Senator Blunt also voted to protect small businesses and middle class families from new tax hikes (Congress Merge 1). He fought to protect a majority of taxpayers from the tax hike. This also ensured that a majority of families in Missouri who operate farms do not get subjected to the death tax.
In order to promote responsible expenditure, it is his belief that a combination of sound tax policies, prioritization of discretionary expenditure and a cut in unnecessary and duplicated programs in the federal budget is the best approach. The national debt should also be reduced through a reversal to the regime on borrowing and expenditure which means less borrowing and reduced recurrent expenditure. On fiscal issues, Senator Blunt is pro business. Rating by the U.S Chamber of Commerce puts him at 97 percent (Congress Merge 1). Some of his contributions to business promotion in the United States include backing the overhaul of bankruptcy laws that required individuals who sought protection under bankruptcy to repay a larger percentage of their debt.
The senator also advocated for federal prohibitions to curtail online poker. He was one of the co-sponsors of the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (2006) as well as the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (2006) (Congress Merge 1). Blunt is also a strong opposer of federal caps and strongly supports coastline drilling for oil in the United States. This stand put him at loggerheads with environmentalist groups. In 2010 for example, the League of Conservation Voters listed him among other legislators who side with polluters to deny the United States a clean and sustainable future (Congress Merge 1).
Blunt takes conservative stands on majority of social issues. He is pro-life and has voted so in the House. Some of his significant votes include a vote against partial-birth abortions and the restriction and criminalization of cross-state transportation of minors to procure abortions. Senator Blunt also opposed the Hyde Amendment that sought to provide federal funding for elective abortions. Blunt was among those who voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment though it did not sail through (Blunt 1). The amendment sought to ban same-sex marriage on a national scale. Senator Blunt proposed the Blunt Amendment to block a section of the Affordable Care Act that sought to make it mandatory for the birth control pill to be covered by all insurance plans. The amendment meant to provide an option for those who had moral objections to the birth control pill to opt out of the coverage on birth control (Blunt 1).
As other of the Senate representatives for Missouri, Senator Blunt has worked effortlessly to ensure the welfare of his constituents. His stands on political, social and economic issues are inspired by the need to safeguard the rights of his people. Although some of his stands may be unpopular with a section of constituents, the senator he still continues to work in the interest of all (Blunt 1).
Works Cited
Blunt, Roy. Roy Blunt. United States Senator for Missouri. Web. Nov 2. 2013.
Congress Merge. Information on Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri. Web. Nov 2. 2013.
Hardy, J. Richard, Richard R. Dohm, David A. Leuthold. Missouri Government and Politics.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1995. Print.
Center for Creative Politics. OpenSecrets.org Web. Nov 2. 2013.
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