Smith talks social media, SCRUB Act at Pachyderms

The Southeast Missouri Pachyderm Club celebrated its 47th birthday with cake and a speech from U.S. Rep. Jason Smith.

Smith, a Republican, represents the 8th Congressional District of Missouri, which includes Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff and Rolla.

He offered a brief account of some of the issues being considered by Congress, especially in the Judiciary Committee of which he is a member, but mostly Smith answered questions proposed by audience members.

The question voiced by many: How can Republicans "take back" the Senate? Although Missouri has no Senate race on the ballot this fall, Smith said it's still important to show support for conservative candidates in other states. The best way to do so is through social media, he said.

"Just posting things on Facebook that [my office] or others send, I can't tell you how many people will see that," Smith said.

He also said it was important for Republicans to come together to support and vote for the best conservative candidate in the 2016 presidential race.

"I'm one of the most conservative members of Congress ..." he said. "I would love to have the most conservative candidate [be nominated for president], but if that person can't win, then where are we?"

Smith said the party needs "the most electable" conservative candidate, although he's not sure at this point who that might be. Dividing into factions and refusing to vote for any conservative candidate other than "your guy" is only going to hurt Republicans as they try to win the nation's highest office, he told those in attendance.

But the main topic of the night was overreach of governmental agencies. Smith said these agencies, which include groups such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, pass harsh rules and regulations that affect many of the people in his district. Some examples Smith cited included USDA regulations for dairy farmers and wood burning stove regulations handed down from the EPA.

These groups -- which answer to the president and the executive branch rather than the legislative -- have no real system of checks and balances, he said.

"That's why I've introduced the SCRUB Act," Smith said.

The Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act would create a process that would allow Congress to review and approve rules introduced by government agencies before they became final.

Southeast Missouri Pachyderm Club president James Roché said he was happy to see the congressman attend the club's birthday celebration.

"It's important that he makes contact with the public. We provide the platform for him to do that and we're happy to do so," he said.

Roché also said he hopes to see the club continue "on and on" into the future to continue supporting these educational events for the people and elected officials.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

236 S. Broadview St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.