In Southern Missouri we don’t measure our economic wellbeing by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but by our work. I am working every day to ensure the people I serve have access to the tools necessary to provide economic opportunity, growth and stability in Southern Missouri.

Stimulus Has Grown Government, Not Economy 

Emerson Says Stimulus Effect Lagging on MO Highways  

Emerson: New Pioneer Seed Facility Shows Strengths of Region in Attracting New Businesses

American Jobs, American Workers

Emerson Sends Letter on Immigration Enforcement to DoJ

Emerson Requests, Feds Release Energy Assistance Funds

Investing in Infrastructure

Highway Infrastructure:
Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have advocated for an increased federal investment in Southern Missouri’s highways. From Highway 60 and 67 to local projects in communities, I have supported the investment in these improvements. By upgrading our highways and thoroughfares, we are increasing the safety and capacity of our roads. This promotes economic development and an increase in commerce along these stretches of roads, boosting local tax revenues and employment opportunities.

Waterways Infrastructure
The Mississippi River has been and remains today the main artery of commerce through our nation. In order to keep the river a viable means of transporting freight, much work is required. The dredging of local ports and harbors is a necessity, as well as the rehabilitation of locks and dams along the main channel. I have worked with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to identifying projects that would facilitate commerce in Southern Missouri and facilitate the export of American products throughout the globe.

Agriculture and Forestry – Missouri’s Backbone
Our natural resources remain the base of our rural economy. I have worked to ensure that our farmers and dairymen have access to a strong safety net and that our ranchers are not overly burdened by government regulations. Missouri’s 8th Congressional District is 22nd in the nation for the number of farms - 21st in the nation for women operators. These family operations provide a backbone of support for local communities and small businesses; while also providing the safest most abundant food supply in the world. Missouri’s forest products industry adds $1.69 billion to the state’s gross product.

Growing Small Business
Southern Missouri’s small businesses and entrepreneurs remain, even in these tough economic times, the key to returning job growth. In 2009, Southern Missouri experienced significant new business creation. The 28 counties in Missouri’s 8th Congressional District formed 2096 new businesses in 2009; this growth is at a greater rate than the state average. These small businesses need a government that partners with them and is not a burden to them. I have worked to ensure the Small Business Administration and the Rural Development agency have the tools they need to be that reliable partner, and I have opposed regulations and tax increases which would shutter many of these emerging businesses.

Improving Communication
The Internet has become an indispensible tool for Americans in all walks of life.  Unfortunately, in Southern Missouri, the infrastructure for broadband service is not up to the standard Americans enjoy in urban areas.  That is why I continue to work with our Eighth Congressional District’s small and hardworking Internet service providers to expand their networks to reach more households, hospitals, businesses and schools.  I am working directly with RUS and the NTIA on programs to support our providers as they build out their networks.  The effects and benefits of this work are far-reaching. Hospitals would be able to share information and medical imaging faster through tele-medicine.  Schools and individuals would be able to further their educations through distance learning, online classes and vast education resources the Internet can offer.  Finally, expanding broadband infrastructure would create the opportunity for job growth.  Small business owners would have new avenues to sell products or services, and individuals would be able to utilize high speed information transfer to bring creative, entrepreneurial business models to our region.

Strengthening Local Education
An educated workforce is critical to increasing productivity and fostering innovation. Metro areas with educated workforces are well-positioned to capitalize on a growing trend. Knowledge workers are important not only because the principal factor determining where high-tech firms locate is an adequate supply of skilled labor, but also because their presence boosts incomes. From 1980 to 1997, the per capita incomes of metro areas with the most educated populations grew 1.8 percent in real terms per year, while those with the least-educated populations grew only 0.8 percent per year. Finally, entrepreneurs are more likely to have higher levels of education, and as entrepreneurial start-ups become more important to a region's economic success, having more knowledge workers increases entrepreneurial activity.

More Americans are going back to school to sharpen their skills or to learn a new business. We need to be sure that the many educational facilities in Southern Missouri are able to offer job training and workforce investment curricula, helping our dedicated workers adapt and remain the most competitive in the world.

Health Care - Critical Access
Health care spending is one of the most rapidly growing portions of the federal budget. Projections suggest if the rapid growth in health care costs is not curtailed, governments at all levels will face an uncomfortable choice between significant cuts in other spending priorities or major tax increases. Rising health care costs in part reflect the cost of technological advances, whose benefits exceed their costs, and the aging of the U.S. population. The growing role of third-party reimbursement over the past half century weakened incentives to minimize costs and thus has also led to higher health care costs.

Our goal in the rural economic region of Southern Missouri is to boost the numbers of providers, expand access to technology, and focus on underserved areas that require public policy to account for the different challenges in rural and urban areas. We also must find solutions that boost the ability of employers to offer affordable insurance products to the men and women who work for them, as well as their families. The benefits of a job that also offers affordable insurance are crucial to the stability of the workforce in our communities.

Economy and Gas Prices
Energy supplies and prices are major economic factors in the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. Thus, energy policy has been a recurring issue for Congress since the first major crisis in the 1970s. Historical trends show petroleum as the major source of energy, rising from about 38% in 1950 to 45% in 1975, declining to about 40% in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. Significantly, the transportation sector has been and continues to be almost completely dependent on petroleum, mostly gasoline. Dependence on the volatile world oil market was revealed over the past five years as perceptions of impending inability of the industry to meet increasing world demand led to relentless increases in the prices of oil and gasoline. With the downturn in the world economy and a consequent decline in consumption, prices collapsed, but the dependence on imported oil continues as a potential problem.

Keeping Energy Affordable
Keeping energy prices affordable is important to ensuring American companies and workers can compete in the global economy. Affordable energy prices also increase the disposable income for American households that can then use their extra hard-earned cash to fuel the economy.

In the middle of America, we rely upon coal for much of our energy needs. Some environmentalists want to eliminate the use of coal because they feel it is dangerous to the environment, but those concerns have been addressed by clean coal technologies that remove harmful emissions. Any attempt to deviate from coal as a power source would dramatically increase our energy prices in Southern Missouri. We also must continue to develop new ways to sufficiently power our country. That should include additional nuclear reactors, as well as research into cellulosic ethanol and other developing energy areas.

Our country is blessed with a large amount of energy resources. We must do all we can to locate and extract these resources responsibly to reduce our dependence on foreign sources. Whether it is oil shale in Colorado, Outer Continental Shelf oil exploration activities in the Gulf of Mexico or the North Slope of Alaska, these resources are there to fuel our nation.

The House has passed and the Senate is considering legislation aimed at making the very fuel source we use most for electricity in Missouri, coal, unaffordable and unsustainable. The same agenda threatens to lock up certain American oil and natural gas resources from energy exploration activities. Legislation known as Cap and Trade would cause an increase in our energy prices and harm our economy. I opposed Cap and Trade when it came to a vote in the House, and I’ll continue to oppose it in any form.