LETTERS: EMERSON CAN DO BETTER THINGS FOR ALL OF US

To the editor:

It is with great regret that I read an article in the Southeast Missourian that said U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson was involved in the following concerning P. David Matthews:

1. Using her congressional position to influence the Department of Agriculture concerning a $400,000 loan decision that should have been made solely on its merit. Did Emerson expect her intimidation to overrule an otherwise rational loan ruling?

2. Using her congressional position to influence the U.S. District Court to soften the penalty for a proven fraud. Shouldn't convicted criminals pay a penalty for their poor judgment? What deterrence is provided when criminals are put in halfway houses and allowed to continue their lives uninterrupted? Doesn't a federal judge have the experience with the law to justly sentence without Emerson's help, a criminal who pleads guilty?

Why doesn't Emerson use her congressional influence to help the majority of Southeast Missourians, those people she condescendingly refers to as "the folks"? Since more of her professional life has been spent inside the Washington, D.C., beltway, not in Southeast Missouri, let me recommend a few areas of federal government business I believe she should attend to:

1. Better funding for school buildings. Kids are literally packed in classrooms here. Now the only solution is to raise property taxes on seniors with fixed incomes and on farmers facing record low commodity prices. If Emerson were here, she would know that school facilities should be a higher priority than a new federal courthouse.

2. Increased federal emphasis on alternative energy sources. I am sick and tired of transferring American wealth to OPEC. I'll bet half our defense budget is committed to defending the monarchies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Why can't fuel-cell and methanol research be accelerated the way the space program was in the 1960s?

3. Developing a standardized, centralized and ethical system of voter registration and ballot counting. The mess in Florida, and the change in voter hours in St. Louis, should compel Emerson to take immediate legislative action.

These are just a few suggestions to help Emerson revise the priority of her efforts away from helping frauds. I can understand her office helping a common citizen having trouble with the federal bureaucracy, but I believe anyone asking for $400,000 can stand on his own.

LARRY BILL

Jackson, Mo.