Congressman Alford Pays Visit to Sedalia

Congressman Mark Alford, who represents the 4th Congressional District and serves in the 118th US Congress, paid a visit to Sedalia on Tuesday.

Part of his tour included an hour-long visit with Pettis County Commissioners and several Pettis County elected officials at the courthouse Tuesday morning.

Alford occupies the seat formerly held by Republican Vicky Hartzler and before her, Democrat Ike Skelton.

“I've been coming to Pettis County since the very beginning of my campaign in November of 2021. I love coming here, I love meeting the people, it's a vibrant town with a lot going on. I used to come here all the time for State Fairs and my daughter did the horse show circuit, so we came here many times,” Alford told KSIS.

“So to come here and listen to people and what's on their hearts, souls and minds, it gives me inspiration for what I do in Washington. I'm committed to listen to people, and that's what I'm doing today. Listening to concerns. Although there may not be federal solutions to this, there are some things today that we identified that we can help out with, at a federal level,” Alford said.

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National defense, agriculture, the SNAP program and the ongoing landfill and trash issues were some of the topics discussed during the meeting.

On the landfill issue:

“We've got to figure out, in this region, how to deal with our trash issues. We don't need trash coming from Kansas City to one of three landfills here in Pettis County. This has to be a reasonable, rational solution. It's something we all have to live with, but not one county should be burdened with other people's trash,” Alford told KSIS.

On bipartisan legislation:

Congressman Alford pointed to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, passed June 21) as a prime example of that. $840 billion of spending on the military was authorized. “We worked on this for three or four months. We were able to offer eight amendments – seven of them passed. When Democrats on that committee are talking with Republicans on that committee, we have one thing in mind, and that is the defense of our nation to make sure that we are strong, that we are able to be, in this day & age, a strong deterrent against the pacing threat from Communist China,” Alford stated.

On the Farm bill:

“We are having a listening tour here August 14 at the fairgrounds at the Nucor Pavilion. I hope everyone shows up there. Our chairman, G.D. Thompson, will be there, Governor Parson will be there. It's going to be an opportunity where you can come and ask questions that are pertinent to your life as a farmer, a rancher, a producer, or even a consumer, because we all have a vested interest in our food security,” Congressman Alford said.

Alford had lunch at a local restaurant before touring a few local industries such as Inter-State and Duke Manufacturing.

Editor's note: Hear the entire interview with Congressman Alford on Sunday morning at 6:05 a.m. on KSIS-1050 AM during the weekly Townsquare Talk program, hosted by Randy Kirby.