Vicky Hartzler: Armed and ready for action

Among the topics in the weekly newsletter of Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler is her recent visit to National Rifle Association headquarters, where, for a change of pace, the only thing she was shooting off was a gun.

First and foremost, I want to offer my heartfelt prayers and willingness to help in any way to the good citizens of Pulaski County who have suffered through heavy rains and flash flooding. My heart was broken when I learned that a child was killed and that a woman is missing. It is a tragedy we all share in together. Our team has spoken with law enforcement and other emergency officials in Pulaski County as well as the State and Federal Emergency Management Agencies and Major General Leslie Smith at Fort Leonard Wood to assure them we stand ready to assist the region as it recovers. I know that local emergency responders are working hard to address the immediate needs of displaced citizens of the region, helping them find services they need as they cope with this emergency situation. I pray God helps keep safe all the rescue workers and citizens as they cope with the tragic loss of life as well as the destruction of infrastructure and personal property.

This was the first week of a lengthy in-district work period for the representatives of the people, and it started off with good news for Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base. Due to a reprogramming request made by Congress and savings found elsewhere in its budget, the Pentagon was able to reduce the number of planned furlough days from 11 to six. These six dates will be scheduled between now and the end of the 2013 Fiscal Year, which ends September 30^th, and will affect more than 650,000 civilian employees on military facilities nationwide.

The Department of Defense instituted these furloughs to implement the sequestration imposed under the 2011 Budget Control Act, which I opposed due to my concerns that it would disproportionately harm our military. Another long-term concern for our bases' future is the long-term force structure plans of the Army and Air Force. I believe our communities must be proactive to put themselves in the best possible position to remain central to our country's future defense needs.

In order to explore the best ways to position our bases to grow rather than contract should the Department of Defense realign its bases in the coming years, I have organized a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Roundtable in Columbia this coming Tuesday. While no future rounds of BRAC have been authorized as of yet, they remain a very real possibility as our nation addresses future threats and reallocates budget resources. This Roundtable will bring together stakeholders from throughout Missouri to proactively address the next possible round of BRAC so that we emerge even stronger and more central to future missions. I organized a similar BRAC Roundtable in Jefferson City in 2011, which led to wonderful cooperation and information sharing throughout our Missouri Defense community. I expect that this year's meeting will also help us work together to protect our future, so that our military installations in Missouri remain vital to our country’s national defense.

This coming week will also be the first of what I hope can become an annual event – my Fourth District Farm Tour. This Tuesday through Thursday, I will be traveling throughout the Fourth District, learning from our agricultural producers about the problems they are facing and the new ideas they are implementing on their farms every day. I would love for you to come and learn with me all of the innovative ways in which the American farmer is leading the world in agricultural production. Please visit my website atwww.hartzler.house.gov for a complete list of events.

On another matter, I was recently part of a group visiting the National Rifle Association’s headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, to discuss our Second Amendment rights and to get in a little shooting practice.

I used the 9mm pistol and AR-15 style semiautomatic during our brief outing. As a firm believer in our right to protect ourselves and our families, I encourage Fourth District residents who have guns to learn the right way to handle firearms both when using them and when storing them or carrying them around. I pray that you will never have to use your gun for anything other than target practice at the range. But it is wise to know how to handle your gun should the unthinkable happen and you need to protect yourself or your family.