Sen. McCaskill speaks on range of topics at Cape town-hall meeting

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill held a series of town halls Saturday in Southeast Missouri, making stops in Kennett, Poplar Bluff and Dexter before concluding the tour in the Shuck Recital Hall at the Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus in Cape Girardeau.

According to a news release, McCaskill (D-Mo.) has held more public, in-person town halls as senator than the rest of Missouri’s delegation combined.

About 75 residents came to voice concerns at the Cape Girardeau town hall.

McCaskill began by highlighting bipartisan successes such as the Arla Harrell Act, which recently passed through the Senate with help from Republican senator and Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Johnny Isakson of Georgia. The bill would provide medical benefits to certain World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas or lewisite gas; the bill is headed to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.

For the next 50 minutes, McCaskill fielded questions written by audience members beforehand.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill speaks during a town-hall meeting early Saturday evening in Shuck Recital Hall at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

The first question, from a pro-life audience member, asked McCaskill about the necessity of Planned Parenthood funding.

“The one thing we all agree on is that we want to prevent [abortions],” McCaskill said. “We want to reduce the number of abortions.”

McCaskill said the best way to reduce abortions is by increasing the availability and accessibility of birth control.

Many locals expressed concerns over health care and Medicare ­— specifically the costs of premiums and the future funding of medical research.

McCaskill emphasized the importance of Medicare and rural hospitals in Missouri, and told about her current efforts to retain federal funding for Alzheimer’s disease research.

The senator later shared details about what she’d like to see for Missourians in a potential infrastructure bill, and she criticized proposed private-investment infrastructure models for ignoring the needs of rural Missouri.

“When you come up with an infrastructure plan that’s all private money, you’re basically taking care of the cities and leaving rural Missouri behind,” McCaskill said. “Which is ironic, if you think about it, in terms of where our president’s support came from.”

A few criticisms of Trump were stated, but McCaskill took a more moderate stance by focusing more on finding solutions.

“Do I think that it’s appropriate to talk about impeachment? I really don’t think it’s appropriate,” McCaskill said. “Is he doing things that I disagree with? Do I think he’s lessening our stature in the world? Yeah, I do. Is he worrying our allies? Absolutely. Is there chaos? Yeah, some days. We’ve had a lot of turnover in a very short period of time, unprecedented. But I don’t think it’s helpful, in terms of us getting through this and getting things done, to dwell on his shortcomings.”

McCaskill made it clear her priorities were on the people of Missouri.

“While I will criticize the president when I think it’s appropriate, I’m also going to not let that distract me from what my day job is, which is finding ways to get things done and make a difference in your lives,” McCaskill said. “I have not commented on the Russia investigation, probably because the prosecutor in me knows that it’s irresponsible to do that until all the facts have been determined.”

bmatthews@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

518 S. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.