Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you are all able to celebrate this weekend with fireworks, good food, and the company of family and friends. Independence Day is also a time to pause and reflect on the liberties guaranteed by our nation’s founding documents and the brave men and women in uniform who have fought to preserve these freedoms for us.

While we are busy enjoying the holiday, we must not forget how fortunate we are to live in a country where we are free to select the officials that will represent us, worship as we choose, and generally live without fear of government oppression. The grand democratic experiment that our nation embodies will not endure unless we value our rights and vigilantly guard them.

Unfortunately, there are places in the world where abuses against basic human rights are rampant. I recently met with two constituents who immigrated to the US from China and practice a spiritual discipline called Falun Gong. Individuals practicing Falun Gong in China face persecution, torture, and imprisonment. Over 3,700 Falun Gong followers have died from abuse, and some of their internal organs had been harvested. One of these constituents was placed under house arrest for his beliefs. While they are now naturalized American citizens, the horrors in their home country continue.

As we celebrate the birth of our nation, we should also remember the principles that form the foundation of our federal, state, and local governments.

Members of the House of Representatives have the unique privilege and responsibility of belonging to the body of state government most accessible and accountable to the people of Missouri. Elected every two years from a smaller pool of constituents than officials in the Senate and executive branch, we must be responsive to the needs of the people.

The make-up of our 163 member body mirrors the diversity of our state. We come from every corner of Missouri with different occupations, upbringings, and philosophies. Yet we are all united by a common goal, creating a freer and more prosperous state for future generations of Missouri families.

Crafting legislation and budgets that will make our state a better place is not a simple task. It requires legislators, despite their differing opinions on politics and policies, to work with each other and with people from all over the state. Trust is the cornerstone of these relationships, and without it no cooperative endeavor can succeed.

For effective policies to be developed, legislators, state officials, lobbyists, and constituents need to be able to believe one another. If promises are uncertain and information unreliable, the possibility of collaboration disappears and the legislative process grinds to a halt.

Honesty ought to be a central piece of all of us, engrained in our principles, so we can build strong relationships, reliably serve those who place their trust in us, and conduct business with the assurance that our word is meaningful. Certainly, we have seen public figures whose dishonesty cost them society’s trust, but this does not make honesty any less valuable.

No elected official is perfect, but we must all strive to make honesty our central principle and guiding force because if we cannot trust each other, we will never move our state forward.

I wish you all a very happy Fourth of July, and God bless America!