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Covering state lawmakers, bills, and policy emerging from Jefferson City.

Blunt visits Missouri Capitol, says he hopes DACA deal can be reached

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri.
Tim Bommel | Missouri House Communications
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri.

Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt is expressing disappointment at President Donald Trump’s tweet this week, which said a federal program that allows undocumented children to remain in the U.S. is effectively “dead.”

The Republican Senator told reporters in Jefferson City Wednesday he hopes it’s not too late for a solution that allows them to stay.

“Well, I think there’s a lot of appropriate sympathy for kids who were brought here and grew up here, and [who] really know no other country,” he said. “The [DACA] criteria is not being in trouble, having been here a long time, having grown up here, and being ready to go to work … [that’s] pretty good criteria — and we need more people like that in our country, anyway.”

Blunt made those comments after delivering a brief address to the Missouri House on the work he’s performing in the U.S. Senate.

President Trump gave Congress a March 6 deadline to come up with a replacement for the DACA program, which did not happen. But federal courts have stepped in and said it can remain in place for now.

During his speech to the Missouri House, Blunt paid tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis 50 years ago Wednesday.

“There’s going to be a lot of discussion in the last few days, and the next few days, about Dr. King,” Blunt said, “but it’s really a good time to think about the importance of life, the value of life, and the difference that one committed life can make.”

Blunt’s address was preceded by a short speech from John Saville, the British Consul General to the Midwestern U.S., who was also visiting the Missouri Capitol.

Blunt’s speech to the Missouri House can be heard below:

 Blunt's address to the Mo. House, 4-4-2018

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St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.