Sen. Blunt touts river's future, expounds on 'executive overreach'

Regulatory concerns, staying competitive in the global economy and the importance of the Mississippi River were tops on U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt's list during a visit to the SEMO Port on Wednesday. The Missouri Senator also spoke about the Enforce Act and took questions.

His port stop was among many he's made across Missouri this week to discuss what he contends is the Obama administration's executive overreach. The Enforce Act allows members of Congress to have legal standing if the president is not enforcing the law the way Congress intended, Blunt said.

Talking about the inland waterway system as the Panama Canal expands to nearly double its capacity by 2015, Blunt said he thinks the Mississippi River is about to become more important than it's been in 100 years. He said the river provides a link to the world economy at a time when world food demand is expected to double in the next 55 years.

" ... We can be a central part of not only producing that product, but seeing that product, seeing that food, come through our state, go through our ports, taking advantage ... of getting on the water as quickly as you can to be part of that global economy," Blunt said. "I think basically we're only three or four really common-sense decisions away from some real opportunity here; how we use American energy in a more effective way; what we do to maintain our river and transportation system; how we really compete in this economy. That's going to demand a higher level of food and more food than ever before."

That's why it's better to be strategic about lawmaking.

"Nobody is better positioned to be part of that [growth] than we are, but regulations that don't make sense can be the biggest enemy of common sense, and we need to be fighting back these regulations that just frankly are above the capacity of the federal government, and outside the purview of the federal government to determine ..."

The Enforce Act, which Blunt introduced, would put a procedure in place to allow Congress to authorize a court case against the executive branch for failure to faithfully execute the laws.

Asked why this is needed with laws already on the books and checks and balances already in place among branches of government, Blunt said under this law, members of Congress could potentially go to court early on and contend a law is not being properly enforced.

Currently, Blunt said, "You have to wait maybe a couple of years for a rule to become final. You have to have an aggrieved party -- some farmer, some county commissioner, some group -- sue the federal government. Then it has to go through all [the] levels of court."

"We just saw the administration reversed three times by the Supreme Court, but all those cases were after two years or more of people trying to comply with rules and regulations that eventually weren't even legal. So this just gives members of Congress the ability to go to court" and seek a determination on whether Congress is correct or the administration is.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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