McCaskill taking constituent concerns to Washington

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill spoke with an eager crowd Thursday during a town hall meeting in Mexico. Attendees included former teachers, a former sheriff and a handful of Callaway County residents, among others.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill spoke with an eager crowd Thursday during a town hall meeting in Mexico. Attendees included former teachers, a former sheriff and a handful of Callaway County residents, among others.

After averaging nearly one town hall meeting per week in 2017, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she plans to keep giving Missourians a voice in the nation's capitol.

McCaskill visited Callaway County on April 12, stopping in Fulton and New Bloomfield. She also went to Boone and Audrain, as well as Moniteau twice.

"The only way Missourians will know that their voices are being heard in Washington is if I'm showing up, hearing them, listening and learning, and using what I learn to fight for them in the Senate," she said in a Monday press release.

Saturday marked McCaskill's 50th public town hall this year - which she said is more than the rest of Missouri's Congressional delegation combined.

All but two of the counties in which McCaskill hosted public town halls are traditionally conservative counties that delivered double-digit victories for President Donald Trump last year.

"Whether or not folks always agree with me isn't the point," she said. "I represent all Missourians, and I owe it to all Missourians to show up, show respect, hold myself accountable and listen."

What she learned

During her visit to Mexico in early July, McCaskill focused on access to affordable health care. At the time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (a bill to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act) and it was on its way to a Senate vote.

Mexico resident Allen Utterback expressed concern for himself and his family if the AHCA passed in its current form. McCaskill said she opposed the AHCA on grounds it cut Medicaid, which pays for more than 60 percent of nursing home costs in Missouri.

Ultimately, the AHCA failed to pass the Senate, as did the related Health Care Freedom Act.

Health care also came up during McCaskill's April town hall meeting in Fulton. Ava Santhuff, daughter of Super Sam Foundation founders Matt and Cassie Santhuff, questioned the senator on childhood cancer funding.

"Why do kids with cancer not get enough money?" Santhuff, then 8, said. "My brother was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. He went to Heaven. So why don't kids with cancer get the funding they need?"

McCaskill said she supported research funding for all forms of cancer.

Planned Parenthood was another hot-button issue. Voices and tension rose as attendees questioned the agency's funding. McCaskill said no federal money is used by Planned Parenthood for abortions.

"The federal money is used to provide birth control and cancer screenings," she said.

McCaskill, who was born in Rolla, is running for re-election in 2018. She said she has committed to using what she has heard to reinforce her efforts in the new year.

"What Missourians told me - their ideas, their concerns, their criticisms - all of it makes me a better senator, better equipped to achieve the results they expect. And I'm ready as ever to fight for the state I love."