| Dear , As Vice Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to deny any top Russian officials entry to the United States as long as Vladimir Putin and Russian forces continue their unconscionable assault on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion began six months ago, over five million civilians have been forced to flee their homes and thousands have lost their lives, including countless innocent women and children. The Russian Federation has forfeited its right to be treated as a responsible member of the international community. The United States must continue to punish Putin and Russia for the brutality of their invasion and the potential war crimes they are committing, which is why I introduced the Isolate Russian Government Officials Act of 2022. This legislation banning Russian officials from major financial and international forums passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming support, and I urge the Senate to take action so this bill may be signed into law. You can read my letter to Secretary Blinken here.
I am committed to bolstering our local economy and highlighting the St. Louis region’s incredible business environment. Our community has fostered the birth of some of America’s best-known companies, and I was proud to speak during the National Venture Capital Association’s “Spotlight on St. Louis” about how our region is experiencing a new wave of innovative business startups. While we’re experiencing great growth in our community, there is more work that Congress can do to expand opportunities for both investors and entrepreneurs. That’s why I worked with my colleagues to pass the DEAL Act, which will support early-stage companies and expand entrepreneurial activity into more areas like ours.
As your Member of Congress, I will continue to advance legislation aimed at expanding business opportunities and strengthening the St. Louis economy.
The St. Louis region is also home to some of the top-rated schools and school districts in the State of Missouri. However, the coronavirus pandemic upended our nation’s education system, and last week, the release of national student test scores confirmed what many parents of young children already knew: school closures and remote learning during the pandemic had disastrous effects on our nation’s youth. The National Assessment for Educational Progress revealed that the reading ability for elementary school students fell to its lowest point since 1990 and math skills dropped for the first time in fifty years. Remote learning has proven to be an unsustainable way to educate our children. As Chair of the Suburban Caucus, I included the Reopen Our Schools Act in our legislative platform to ensure our children receive in-person instruction in all schools receiving federal funds.
You can read more about the national test scores here and learn about the Suburban Caucus platform here. In just this year alone, our Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have found over 7,600 pounds of fentanyl coming across our nation’s southern border—more than the amount CBP seized in all of 2020. Only 2 milligrams of this extremely dangerous opioid can be lethal, and last week the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a warning about “brightly colored fentanyl used to target young Americans” that has been found in 18 different states across the country. Over the past year, more than 100,000 Americans have tragically lost their lives due to drug overdoses. It is vitally important that our community is aware of this threat, and I am fighting for Congress to pass legislation to address this crisis. I am a cosponsor of the Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues Act, which would provide law enforcement with enhanced tools to combat the scourge of fentanyl, and the Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act, which would establish a grant program for states to implement strategic plans to counter this issue. You can learn more about the DEA warning here. I have been an outspoken critic of the Biden Administration’s attempt to create a new Iran Deal. According to the most recent Annual Threat Assessment compiled by the Director of National Intelligence, Iran remains “a regional menace with broader malign influence activities” and will “continue to plot terrorist attacks against U.S. persons and interests.” In August, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is not cooperating with existing international treaties mandating specific safeguards for its nuclear program, and last week, Iran demanded that the IAEA end its independent investigation into these possible violations. Due to the danger a nuclear Iran poses to the United States and our allies in the region, I joined my colleagues in sending a letter to the Director-General of the IAEA urging the agency to stand firm and continue its investigation until all concerns have been properly addressed and sufficiently resolved. You can read this letter here. Sincerely, 
Ann Wagner
Member of Congress | 
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