Congresswoman Hartzler Meets With Farmers on Threat of Still More EPA Regulatory Overkill
Press Release
Demonstrating a firm commitment to addressing the needs and concerns of the agriculture community, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-4) met yesterday with farmers and agri-business leaders to discuss proposals for cutting government red tape that raises production costs and retail food prices.
Meeting in Higginsville, Hartzler said, "The EPA is out of control. It is going around Congress to advance its own agenda, making it difficult to do business. As a lifelong farmer and a member of the House Agriculture Committee I am committed to making it clear to the bureaucrats in Washington that their time of reckless overreach is over."
"Government over-regulation is a huge concern and burden to all farmers," added Hartzler. "The recent EPA ruling on Chesapeake Bay runoff has created a mandate that unfairly targets farmers and threatens to generate still more useless and expensive federal paperwork which will entangle bureaucrats in farming decisions. The time for Congress to impose common sense ideas is before the EPA tries to move into the Missouri Valley with a new regulatory attack on private industry."
Other EPA concerns discussed by farmers and Hartzler in Higginsville include EPA's proposals to regulate crop spraying, dust, ammonia, atrazine, carbon, and floodplains. "The EPA wants to control every aspect of our lives," Hartzler said. "It's time for Missouri common sense to prevail and let our farmers do what they do best - provide a safe and affordable food supply - without government interference."
Earlier in the day Congresswoman Hartzler met with representatives of the Missouri Levee Drainage District Association discussing these issues and a proposed controversial new Missouri River study. She recently co-signed a letter with others from Missouri's Congressional Delegation to House and Senate leaders asking that this $25 million study be defunded as it is a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars. The Army Corps of Engineers recently completed a $35 million study of the Missouri River.
Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler was elected to the U.S. Congress on November 2, 2010. She is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.
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