Graves: It's time to put obstruction aside and work to improve border security and infrastructure

(From Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves)

I was honored to attend another State of the Union address this week. I was pleased to see that President Trump was finally allowed to give the address and I was even more pleased with what he had to say.

The fact is, our economy is shattering records left and right with job growth and wages up, unemployment down and Americans finally putting more money in their pockets. The current economic strength of America is due to our pro-growth policies. Undoubtedly, raising taxes and increasing regulations would be a step in the wrong direction.

While the President celebrated the greatness of our country, I was glad that he also acknowledged that we have an opportunity to be even greater. It starts by working together on policies where we can find common ground. One of those policies that I have a keen interest in is infrastructure.

Our infrastructure is part of what made America great in the first place. The ingenuity, skill and hard work of each era contributed to making great strides that got us to where we are today. None of that would have happened, though, without the commitment by our leaders to make the necessary investments.

We have an opportunity to put forward a bold infrastructure plan that safely incorporates innovation and technology. It makes no sense that we have 21st century technology with a 20th century infrastructure. The President has lent his support time and again to rebuilding our roads, bridges, locks, dams, ports, rail and so much more. It would be hard to find an issue that is more bipartisan than infrastructure and I look forward to getting something done this year.

Likewise, we still need to secure our border which means building a wall. For years, border security was a bipartisan issue. Who could disagree with ensuring that our laws are being followed and illegals aren’t allowed in the country? Yet, this has become incredibly polarizing for some because the President is the one calling for it.

I’ve called for a wall for years and my colleagues used to agree with me, even agreeing to allocate resources to it at one point. We still have a dangerous border that threatens our national security. It only makes sense that we put differences aside and, once again, move to fully secure our border for the safety and sovereignty of our country.

The call was put forward to work together for the continued greatness of America. We’ve done it before and I know we can do it again. It’s time to put the obstruction aside and come together around common-sense policies like infrastructure and border security that are critical for the success of our nation moving forward.