Sam Graves-Working Together to Protect Our Communities

May 23, 2022

Dear Friend,

If you’ve been reading this column for very long, you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance of making flood control and navigation our top priorities in managing our nation's rivers. Unlike some of what I talk about here, this isn't a terribly political issue, but it is a very personal and painful one for a lot of people.

North Missouri is home to large stretches of America's two longest rivers—the Missouri and the Mississippi. For folks here, flooding is a part of life. It's not a matter of if, but when, a flood will strike. But that doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't do everything we can to make our communities more resilient against flooding.

After all the devastation and destruction we've witnessed here in North Missouri—in 2019, 2011, 2008, 2007, 1993 and countless other years—I've made increasing resiliency and flood protection one of my top priorities during my time in Congress.

Lately, we've made a lot of good progress on that front. The House has already passed three of my bills to fix FEMA, help get disaster resources out more efficiently, and make sure the agency is truly working to help people.

And just this week, I helped introduce and pass the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This bill, which Congress takes up every 2 years, will help levee districts that have been struggling to keep up with rising repair costs, finally take steps to address longstanding erosion problems along our rivers, and ensure that the Corps prioritizes flood control and navigation for the benefit of Missourians and all Americans.

In this day and age of partisan politics, it's hard to see how anything ever gets done in Washington. But, both Republicans and Democrats were able to come together to move this bill forward. It's a good, bipartisan bill.

I'm incredibly proud to see this legislation moving forward. It makes some big steps forward to protect our communities from future floods.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves